Bachmann Rips 'Ravages' of HPV Vaccine

Second time's a charm? Michele Bachmann again launched a controversial attack on the HPV vaccine during an Iowa stump stop on Monday. She decried the "ravages" of the vaccine, designed to protect young women from the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus. She made her comments in response to a woman who said her own 16-year-old daughter, Jessica, has been suffering serious side effects since getting the vaccine three years ago. She thanked the candidate for speaking out against it, reports the Des Moines Register.

"Well, I thank you for bringing it up,” replied Bachmann. "Parents have to make that decision for their kids because it isn’t the schools that are going to follow up with Jessica. It isn’t the schools that live with Jessica every day. It’s Jessica who’s having to have her body live with the ravages of this vaccine." Bachmann was blasted by the medical community in September when she indicated the vaccine caused retardation; she later conceded she was merely passing on concerns expressed by a woman who approached her at a campaign stop. (More HPV stories.)