Gov. Rick Perry, after one of the best speeches we've heard him make, said he won't veto the Legislature's ban on government-ordered vaccines against human papillomavirus, or HPV.

Right up to the end of his statement, Perry looked like a governor ready to do battle with legislators. He had a signing folder with a couple of pens ready on the ceremonial desk in the governor's ornate reception room at the Capitol. He was joined by several women who have battled cervical cancer. And he made an emotionally compelling argument in favor of the vaccinations, decrying the politics that he said changed the focus of the debate away from public health and toward the relative powers of the governor and the Lege.

"This legislature has not only overturned an order that could save women's lives, but they put rider language in the budget that prevents the state from funding vaccines for low-income women if it is mandated by the commission," he said. "This is shameful."

But he closed by saying he wouldn't pick up the pens or continue the fight, but would instead let the Legislature's ban go into effect without his signature.

"I want to thank those legislators who voted against this bill. They will never have to think twice about whether they did the right thing. No lost lives will occupy the confines of their conscience, sacrificed on the altar of political expediency," Perry said.

"I have wrestled for a few days with whether to veto this bill, or let it become law without my signature. But the fact of the matter is, it will become law no matter what because the voice of the Legislature is clear. And rather than allowing this issue to be held captive one more day by legislative politics and the inevitable posturing that will ensue during a veto override debate, I have decided to let it become law without my signature."

The HPV issue surfaced earlier in the session. A few days before he was due to give his biennial State of the State speech, Perry announced an executive order, mandating HPV shots for all girls entering sixth grade in Texas public schools. Parents could opt out for any reason, but the girls otherwise had to take the shots.

The announcement, made on a Friday afternoon, swamped the rest of the governor's agenda. Other issues on his agenda that might have grabbed public attention got lost on the outskirts of the HPV spotlight — a $3 billion cancer research effort, a $2.5 billion tax cut, budget reform, selling the state lottery to private investors, health care for the working poor, and property tax reform, to name some.

And the subject change Perry complained about happened early: Lawmakers didn't like being surprised, didn't like the idea of an executive order on a controversial issue when they were in town to consider such things, and didn't like the idea of a governor stretching his powers to demand a controversial vaccine against a sexually transmitted disease for 11- and 12-year-olds.

Both the House and Senate voted in sufficient numbers — more than the two-thirds majorities needed to override a gubernatorial veto — to stop Perry's mandate. (They've done it on a toll-road moratorium, too, which the governor has about a week to consider). Rather than veto the bill and risk an override, Perry said he'll fold.