ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN)  -- I'm the mother of two daughters, a teen and a tween. So every day, I tiptoe through hormonally laced minefields hoping to avoid emotional carnage in response to any of my random comments or actions.



The cervical cancer vaccine, approved in 2006, is recommended for girls around 11 or 12.



As I tiptoe, I sometimes stumble, as any mother of girls that age knows. No adult woman in her right mind would knowingly, willingly utter comments that result in young people hissing, hurling verbal grenades such as, "Thanks, Mom, for calling me fat, AGAIN." Or "Are you EVEN listening to me?" Or any version of the very popular, "I hate YOU," "I hate you SO much," "I hate this family," or just plain "AAAARRRRGGGHHHHH!" followed by stomping feet and slamming doors.



So given this background, you might understand why, when I chose to broach the subject of the latest vaccine for young girls, I was braced for a fight. Oddly enough, for once, the battle didn't come.



I told my teenage daughter I wanted her to get the HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccine the next time she went to see her doctor.



"I don't want to."



"Well, sorry. You have to."



"I heard it hurts."



"Well, that's too bad. But it might prevent you from getting cancer later in life."



"Oh. (pause) OK."



If you were keeping score, you might chalk that one up as a Mom win.



The only problem with that is after winning over my daughter, I now had to convince myself. This drug has its own emotional battlefields.



The HPV vaccine has been available to the public for almost two years. When Merck launched it in 2006 under the name Gardasil, many people enthusiastically embraced it as a wonder drug. Dr. Kevin Ault, associate professor of gynecology and obstetrics at Emory University's School of Medicine, says the vaccine helps women avoid an assortment of ailments, some not too serious, but others that are potentially deadly.



"There are about 100 different types of human papillomavirus," he said. "Some of them are pretty common and not dangerous, like plantar warts or warts on your hand. About 30 of them infect the genital tract, and about a dozen of them are associated with cancer."  Health for Her: Watch more the HPV vaccine and girls »



In this case, the cancer Ault is talking about is cervical cancer.



The National Cancer Institute estimates that in 2008, there will be over 11,000 new cases of cervical cancer diagnosed and almost 4,000 women will die from it in the United States. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says that at least 50 percent of people who have had sex will have one type of HPV at some time in their lives.



Given those stats, this vaccine would seem like a pretty good thing, right?



The hitch is that the vaccine is suggested for adolescent girls, but the viruses in question are sexually transmitted. And that is one of the big reasons the HPV vaccine has divided parents in the question of "to give or not to give."



Let's face it. Parents don't like thinking about their daughters having sex at all. Ever. Now a new drug comes along, and not only are parents told they should embrace this new vaccine for their young daughters, but it's also part of the set of routine vaccines that doctors are strongly encouraged to give their patients.



Merck says the drug has been safely tested for girls and women between the ages of 9 and 26. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that girls get the vaccine at age 11 or 12.



Ault explains why youth is key. Human papillomavirus is sexually transmitted, "so one of the advantages of giving it to adolescents is that they are unlikely to have been sexually active, so they will not have been exposed
what was approved for use Who should get the vaccine? What can cause cervical cancer
cervical cancer vaccine, girls around 11 or 12. HPV (human papillomavirus)
question: what was approved for use, answer: cervical cancer vaccine, | question: Who should get the vaccine?, answer: girls around 11 or 12. | question: What can cause cervical cancer, answer: HPV (human papillomavirus)