Hooray! We've been on pins and needles lest the FDA stall on the HPV vaccine the way they have with emergency contraception, but blessedly, that is not to be. The FDA approved the vaccine this morning, Reuters reports. "This vaccine is a significant advance in the protection of women's health in that it strikes at the infections that are the root cause of many cervical cancers," Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach told the wire service. Woo-hoo! Dancing in the streets!

We still don't know how the vaccine will be administered and distributed, though, so presumably there's still potential for disapproving parents to opt out or various forces on the right to mobilize aganist the drug being given to preteen girls. We'll keep you posted as the details get hashed out.

And sheesh, let's hope this sudden decisiveness has some effect on the agency's EC gridlock, so that more women can prevent unwanted pregnancies with contraception instead of abortion.