Controversy surrounding Merck's new cervical cancer vaccine is surely mounting as states move toward mandating it for school-aged girls.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has already signed an executive order requiring all 11- and 12-year-old girls entering the sixth grade to receive the vaccine, Gardasil, beginning in 2008. And according to a New York Times article published on Feb. 21, at least 20 other states are currently considering a mandate.

While I am thrilled that so many states see the importance of vaccinating young girls against a potentially life-threatening disease, it is much too soon to mandate Gardasil.

You have probably all heard the cries of opposition from conservatives and parental rights groups who are against requiring Gardasil for moral reasons.

These groups say that because Gardasil acts against human papillomavirus (HPV), the sexually transmitted disease that can cause cervical cancer, the vaccine will somehow condone premarital sex.

Unfortunately, this fear of sexual activity is overshadowing a much more critical reason not to mandate the vaccine right now -- Gardasil has not yet proven itself safe.

I'm not saying that I have any definitive reason to believe that Gardasil is harmful.

The vaccine was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last June, and the most serious side effects reported so far have been dizziness, nausea and fever.

However, the vaccine is new on the market and has not been tested enough for us to really say whether it is safe, especially when we're talking about administering it to pre-teenage girls.

According to a Feb. 21 press release by the National Vaccine Information Center, Merck studied Gardasil in fewer than 1,200 girls under age 16 in pre-licensure trials.

States should also hold off on mandating Gardasil until public health agencies recommend that it be required.

Generally, this happens after vaccines have been proven safe after several years on the market. Take the chicken pox vaccine as an example. It was approved by the FDA in 1995, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) did not recommend that all states require it for school-aged children until 1999.

As of now, the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics have not recommended that Gardasil be mandatory.

And let's not forget about other breakthrough drugs and medical products that were approved by the FDA but found to have serious and even deadly side effects after being on the market for a few years.

Although the FDA approved the Ortho Evra birth control patch in 2001, stating that it was as safe as oral contraceptives, the patch was later found to cause death and blood clots at a rate three times higher than in women taking the pill. The FDA updated its warnings on Ortho Evra in 2005, this time stating that the patch releases 60 percent more total estrogen in a woman's blood than the typical birth control pill, which could increase the risk of blood clots.

And how can we forget what happened with Merck's arthritis drug Vioxx?

The FDA approved Vioxx in 1999, but the drug was later found to increase the risk of cardiovascular complications such as heart attack and strokes if used regularly.

In 2004, the FDA estimated that Vioxx may have contributed to more than 27,000 heart attacks and sudden cardiac deaths.

Merck finally pulled Vioxx from the market that same year. Government officials need to realize that products approved by the FDA do not always prove safe, and mandating Gardasil right now could be potentially harmful to young girls. State governments should oppose mandating the vaccine for safety reasons rather than the fear of premarital sex.

If Gardasil still appears to cause only minor side effects in the years to come, then states should consider mandating it.

While Gardasil seems to be a promising vaccine that could save thousands of lives, only time will tell if it is truly safe for all girls.