It’s believed that widespread administration of human papillomavirus vaccine could prevent roughly 33,700 cancers annually. At the same time, there are two irrefutable facts that speak in favor of vaccination: 1) more than 4,000 women die of cervical cancer each year, with HPV associated with almost every case, and 2) less than half of Americans between the ages of 13 and 17 are getting vaccinated. The disconnect isn’t in public awareness, though; it appears that parents are reluctant to let their kids get the vaccine, ostensibly because they’re concerned it could encourage promiscuity. So, some states are working up legislation that would allow teenagers to get the HPV vaccine without their parents’ approval. (At present, many states require parental consent for anyone under the age of 18 to receive any vaccine without parental permission.) In fact, the New York Department of Health has been allowing teens to get the HPV shot for nearly 2 years. California, Delaware, and Washington, DC let teenagers under age 18 get vaccinated against sexually transmitted disease in general (including HPV). If parents ask you about the HPV vaccine, you can share the results of a 2015 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that showed no link between HPV vaccine and sexual activity. In fact, those data revealed that HPV infection rates rose at the same rate in vaccinated and unvaccinated girls.