Vaccines Using Aborted Babies' Cells?

Several companies including Pfizer, J&J, Oxford Univ., Moderna, & Merck have been working very quickly to develop Covid-19 vaccines. Some are beginning human clinical trials. [Wall St. Jnl., 4/29/20] Prominent bioethics groups are raising concerns because British scientists used cell lines derived from aborted babies in their experiments, something many pro-life and Catholic leaders have been urging scientists not to do.

Though vaccines can save lives, pro-life advocates believe they should not be developed using materials derived from human rights abuses, including abortions. They note that ethical alternatives are available, and they can be just as successful. Joseph Meaney, president of the National Catholic Bioethics Center (Philadelphia), stated that scientists tend to use cells derived from aborted babies out of “convenience,” even though they have ethical alternatives. “Many companies don’t use them & develop good vaccines” he said.
 
Catholic leaders, including Meaney, are urging people to “insist on ethical scientific research that has no links to abortion or the killing of embryos.” American Catholic bishops are raising similar concerns. In a recent letter, Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas urged people to stand strong against the “evil practice” of using aborted baby body parts to develop vaccines. “Just because the crime of abortion is considered legal in our nation does not mean it is morally permissible to use the dead bodies of these children to cure a global pandemic,” he wrote. “Emphatically, this practice is evil.”

U.S. Catholic bishops sent a letter urging the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure vaccines are being produced ethically. Pro-life leaders also have highlighted how ethical alternatives to tissue from aborted babies are available, including pluripotent stem cells and tissue from placentas, umbilical cords and amniotic fluid. In 2018, the U.S. administration created a $20 million grant to invest in these ethical research alternatives. Recently, the Charlotte Lozier Institute noted that at least 60 potential treatments for the virus are being investigated right now using materials that do not come from aborted babies. [Possible New Coronavirus Vaccine Made With Cells Taken From Aborted Babies, LifeNews.com, 4/28/20] AVM Biotechnology is one of the ethically based companies that has started clinical trials of its drug. [clinicaltrials@avmbiotech.com