Struggling to regain momentum in the 2012 GOP presidential race, Michele Bachmann is doubling down on her criticism of Rick Perry's HPV vaccine mandate, even as other conservatives beg her to stop.

In an attempt to score points with the Republican base, Bachmann has fixated on Rick Perry's controversial decision to mandate HPV vaccines for pre-teen girls, even as other conservatives beg her to stop.

The issue first came to light during Monday night's Tea Party debate, when Bachmann led the onslaught over Perry's 2007 executive order, which required 12-year-old girls to get the vaccine, Gardasil, before entering school. The mandate was overturned by the Texas State legislature after social conservatives freaked out about the violation of parental rights (and the idea of young girls having sex).

To be sure, there are grounds for attacking Perry's decision — his critics have noted that the governor's close friend and former chief of staff Mike Toomey was a registered lobbyist for Merck, the makers of Gardisil. (Toomey is currently the head of the pro-Perry SuperPAC "Make Us Great Again").

But Bachmann veered off course when she stopped attacking Perry and started attacking the vaccine itself. In interviews after the debate she said the vaccine is "painful," "traumatizing," and known to cause mental retardation.

Scientists (and everyone else) pointed out that there is absolutely no evidence or reported cases of HPV causing mental retardation. By the end of the week even conservative pundits — including Rush Limbaugh — had had enough.

Not one to back off, Bachmann is doubling down on her attacks, although she appears to be focusing more on Perry's ties to Merck than on her vaccine myths. Rallying activists in Southern California this weekend, she managed to tie the vaccine issue to Obamacare — she calls the vaccine mandate "Perrycare" — AND the Solyndra bankruptcy scandal.

The damage may already be done, though. Even false alarms can lower vaccination rates significantly, which is a major bummer because the HPV vaccine has been proven to reduce the risk of cervical cancer.

Conservative opposition to the vaccine is mostly based on the idea that 12-year-old girls will see it as a free pass to play fast-and-loose with their morals and their bodies — the same argument used against contraceptives and safe sex education.

But there is absolutely no reason that argument should be stretched to the HPV prevention, an issue that doesn't involve unborn babies. The reality is 20 million Americans have HPV — and even the most chaste of girls can't control who her partner has been with. But Bachmann's particular brand of demagoguery has thrown all this out the window, and according to doctors, probably set a lifesaving treatment back by about three years.