When Medicine and Religion Collide: The Influence of Christian Traditions of Sexual Purity on Attitudes Towards HPV Vaccination
Hannah Hittson, Theology, Medicine and Culture Initiative, Duke Divinity School
A hallmark example of vaccine hesitancy due to religious beliefs is the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. Approximately 79 million Americans, both men and women, are currently infected with HPV. HPV is now regarded as the most commonly spread sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the United States, so common that without a vaccination available, most sexually active adults would be infected with HPV at some point in their lives. While the HPV vaccine has been proven to significantly reduce rates of HPV-related cancers, HPV vaccination rates remain below the national target rate.
Hesitancy towards the HPV vaccine is based on a myriad of factors, though the focus of this paper will be the influence of religious beliefs on vaccine uptake. Several studies have demonstrated the relationship between lower HPV vaccination acceptance and religious denominations that prohibit premarital sex. 1 For example, the Catholic tradition teaches that sex has a purpose only within marriage and that extramarital sex violates this holy purpose. In the same
manner, Evangelical traditions encourage sexual chastity until marriage. Many religious parents deem the vaccine a gateway to “vaccinated sex”—though it has been shown that administration of the HPV vaccine does not increase sexual promiscuity. 2 The idea that the HPV vaccination promotes increased sexual activity combined with a strong parental adherence to a faith tradition that encourages sexual purity may result in a decision to not vaccinate their children.
Though the theological stance on premarital sex has been established since its writing in Holy Scriptures, modern social attitudes, colloquially termed “purity culture,” did not take hold until the early 1990s. It was under the guidance of the Southern Baptist Convention that the vow of virginity took its most tangible form, in “True Love Waits,” an abstinence pledge program that began in 1993, marking the 90s by ‘purity pledges.’ Additionally, many parents hold the belief that if an adolescent remains abstinent until marriage, they negate any opportunity to contract HPV. Common attitudes or movements like these promote the notion that the vaccine and potential vaccine mandates are an overreach of medicine’s perceived boundaries into personal religious beliefs.
In an examination of the traditional Christian beliefs surrounding sexual abstinence before marriage, this paper will demonstrate that the notion that the Christian tenet of sexual abstinence before marriage, a promise of purity, as a prevention strategy for HPV is not adequate. While sexual chastity before marriage is an important principle of most Christian denominations and has even taken root in the social sphere as a purity movement, commitment to a church doctrine does not equate to immunity or avoidance of HPV and other STIs. HPV and HPV-related cancers may become a reality in the lives of biblically “pure” individuals without the protection of the HPV vaccine. This paper argues that a physician’s recommendation of the HPV vaccine or a parent’s choice to vaccinate their child against HPV does not exceed the bounds of medicine by contradicting personal religious beliefs.
1 Constantine and Jerman, “Acceptance of Human Papillomavirus Vaccination among Californian Parents of Daughters”; Shelton et al., “HPV Vaccine Decision-Making and Acceptance”; Thomas, Blumling, and Delaney, “The Influence of Religiosity and Spirituality on Rural Parents’ Health Decision Making and Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Choices”; Bernat et al., “Characteristics Associated With Initiation of the HPV Vaccine Among a National Sample of Male and Female Young Adults”; Best et al., “Examining the Influence of Religious and Spiritual Beliefs on HPV Vaccine Uptake Among College Women”; Bodson et al., “Religion and HPV Vaccine-Related Awareness, Knowledge, and Receipt among Insured Women Aged 18-26 in Utah.”
2 Cook et al., “Legislation to Increase Uptake of HPV Vaccination and Adolescent Sexual Behaviors | Pediatrics | American Academy of Pediatrics”; Brouwer et al., “HPV Vaccination Has Not Increased Sexual Activity or Accelerated Sexual Debut in a College-Aged Cohort of Men and Women.”
Hesitancy towards the HPV vaccine is based on a myriad of factors, though the focus of this paper will be the influence of religious beliefs on vaccine uptake. Several studies have demonstrated the relationship between lower HPV vaccination acceptance and religious denominations that prohibit premarital sex. 1 For example, the Catholic tradition teaches that sex has a purpose only within marriage and that extramarital sex violates this holy purpose. In the same
manner, Evangelical traditions encourage sexual chastity until marriage. Many religious parents deem the vaccine a gateway to “vaccinated sex”—though it has been shown that administration of the HPV vaccine does not increase sexual promiscuity. 2 The idea that the HPV vaccination promotes increased sexual activity combined with a strong parental adherence to a faith tradition that encourages sexual purity may result in a decision to not vaccinate their children.
Though the theological stance on premarital sex has been established since its writing in Holy Scriptures, modern social attitudes, colloquially termed “purity culture,” did not take hold until the early 1990s. It was under the guidance of the Southern Baptist Convention that the vow of virginity took its most tangible form, in “True Love Waits,” an abstinence pledge program that began in 1993, marking the 90s by ‘purity pledges.’ Additionally, many parents hold the belief that if an adolescent remains abstinent until marriage, they negate any opportunity to contract HPV. Common attitudes or movements like these promote the notion that the vaccine and potential vaccine mandates are an overreach of medicine’s perceived boundaries into personal religious beliefs.
In an examination of the traditional Christian beliefs surrounding sexual abstinence before marriage, this paper will demonstrate that the notion that the Christian tenet of sexual abstinence before marriage, a promise of purity, as a prevention strategy for HPV is not adequate. While sexual chastity before marriage is an important principle of most Christian denominations and has even taken root in the social sphere as a purity movement, commitment to a church doctrine does not equate to immunity or avoidance of HPV and other STIs. HPV and HPV-related cancers may become a reality in the lives of biblically “pure” individuals without the protection of the HPV vaccine. This paper argues that a physician’s recommendation of the HPV vaccine or a parent’s choice to vaccinate their child against HPV does not exceed the bounds of medicine by contradicting personal religious beliefs.
1 Constantine and Jerman, “Acceptance of Human Papillomavirus Vaccination among Californian Parents of Daughters”; Shelton et al., “HPV Vaccine Decision-Making and Acceptance”; Thomas, Blumling, and Delaney, “The Influence of Religiosity and Spirituality on Rural Parents’ Health Decision Making and Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Choices”; Bernat et al., “Characteristics Associated With Initiation of the HPV Vaccine Among a National Sample of Male and Female Young Adults”; Best et al., “Examining the Influence of Religious and Spiritual Beliefs on HPV Vaccine Uptake Among College Women”; Bodson et al., “Religion and HPV Vaccine-Related Awareness, Knowledge, and Receipt among Insured Women Aged 18-26 in Utah.”
2 Cook et al., “Legislation to Increase Uptake of HPV Vaccination and Adolescent Sexual Behaviors | Pediatrics | American Academy of Pediatrics”; Brouwer et al., “HPV Vaccination Has Not Increased Sexual Activity or Accelerated Sexual Debut in a College-Aged Cohort of Men and Women.”