Teenage patient receiving HPV vaccine.
California governor Jerry Brown approved legislation that allows minor girls to receive HPV vaccine without parental consent. Reuters

California minors as young as 12 will be able to receive the HPV vaccine without consent from mom or dad.

Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill into law stating that minor girls will be able to get the HPV vaccine- HPV stands for Human papillomavirus- without needing permission from their parents.

Supporters lauded the bill's passage.

This represents an enormous sea of change in terms of being able to prevent cervical dysplasia, obstetrician/gynecologist Ruth Haskins said, Sacramento's KCRA.com reported. In my practice in El Dorado Hills, I am seeing straight-A students that don't want to tell their mothers that they might need this vaccine.

California minors are already allowed to seek treatment and diagnosis of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) without their parent's permission, MedPage Today noted.

Still, the new legislation has some parents and officials in a tizzy.

SaveCalifornia.com, a self-described pro-family organization, referred to HPV vaccines as sex shots on its Web site and accused Brown of declaring war against parents.

How in the world can a 12- or 13-year-old girl provide informed consent when she's not told the risks and limitations of the drug, and she lacks the brain development and necessary wisdom to make this serious decision? president Randy Thomasson wrote on the organization's Web site. She can't even drive a car or vote or get married, but she can consent to this?

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