The Texas House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to overturn Governor Rick Perry’s executive order requiring sixth-grade girls to receive pharmaceutical giant Merck’s Gardasil vaccine against the human papillomavirus, an STD which can cause cervical cancer.

The measure now heads to the state senate, where it’s also expected to pass easily.

Cathie Adams, president of Texas Eagle Forum, applauded the house vote because medical personnel have clearly stated the vaccine should not be mandated.

“It’s too new. It was only approved last June after a four-year study,” Adams says. “It just hasn’t had enough time to prove that it is going be even a preventive for cancer, and certainly, Merck, the manufacturer of the vaccine, does not make that claim either.”

Despite the victory for pro-family forces, which opposed making the STD vaccine mandatory, Adams says the fight is not over yet.

“Now we do have a little bit of a twist in the story, and that is that this vaccine could be added to the required list of vaccines before entering the 6th grade,” she says. “And that can be done by the Health and Human Services (HHS) Commissioner, and so we do have a new twist in the story.”

Two Texas senators on the nominating committee to approve the governor’s HHS commissioner appointee Albert Hawkins are vowing they will oppose Hawkins’ confirmation if he puts Gardasil on the list of required vaccines.