Use of fetal tissue in vaccine development Quotes

“Abortion debate”

“Vaccine misinformation”

““Receiving a COVID-19 vaccine … should be considered an act of love of our neighbor and part of our moral responsibility for the common good.””

“Human fetal kidney cells were used to develop Genentech’s Pulmozyme, which helps clear thick mucus from the lungs of children with cystic fibrosis. ”

“Wikipedia: Use of fetal tissue in vaccine development”

“Researchers have estimated that vaccines made in WI-38 and its derivatives have prevented nearly 11 million deaths and prevented (or treated, in the example of rabies) 4.5 billion cases of disease.”

“Many of our other common vaccines, such as chicken pox, rubella and shingles, have been produced in tissue derived from fetuses, particularly two electively terminated pregnancies from the 1960s.”

“The rabies vaccine exists in two forms, one produced using MRC-5 cells and one produced using a fetal rhesus lung cell line. There are some treatment alternatives for preventing hepatitis A and poliomyelitis.”

““When ethically irreproachable COVID-19 vaccines are not available … it is morally acceptable to receive COVID-19 vaccines that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses.” — U.S. CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS”

“The analysis given below to these two abortions applies also to the third abortion (mentioned in footnote 18 above), from which has been obtained a virus strain (as distinct from fetal parts) and which therefore is not more directly involved in vaccine production.”

“It is no secret that thousands of laboratories around the world use cells derived from a fetus that was aborted decades ago to develop vital medicines. But it is a contentious topic in the US, where conservatives and anti-abortion activists have long deemed the practice unethical.”

“An exception to this rule would be the use of fetal material from indirect or spontaneous abortions, such as that recommended by Maria Michejda, M.D., in “Spontaneous Miscarriages as Source of Fetal Stem Cells” National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, 2.3 (Autumn 2002): 401–411.”

“Two cell lines currently used in vaccines are derived from selective abortions performed overseas in the 1960s; WI-38 from Germany in 1961 and MRC-5 from UK in 1966. Many excellent and thoughtful papers have been written on the ethics and religious aspects arising from use of these human cell lines.”

“The rubella vaccine, produced by the pharmaceutical manufacturer Merck & Co., Inc., uses WI-38 cells. There are two hepatitis A vaccines, one produced by Merck, the other by Glaxo SmithKline, both of which use MRC-5 cells. The varicella vaccine, again produced by Merck, uses both WI-38 and MRC-5 cells.”

“These ethical transgressions have become even more problematic with the advent of affordable genetic sequencing. Human cell lines contain human DNA – and WI-38 will share 50% of its DNA with the foetus’ mother. In this light, the cell line is considered by some as potentially representing a privacy risk.”

“No, the COVID-19 vaccines do not contain any aborted fetal cells. However, fetal cell lines – cells grown in a laboratory based on aborted fetal cells collected generations ago – were used in testing during research and development of the mRNA vaccines, and during production of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. ”

“WHO requirements for the use of animal cells as in vitro substrates for the production of biologicals. Biologicals 1998;26:175-193. 
Cell lines of human (e.g., WI-38, MRC-5) or monkey (FRhL-2) origin are non-tumorigenic and residual cellular DNA derived from these cells has not been, and is not, considered to pose any risk.”

“WI-38 found a greater use in virology, where the ease of infecting the cells with a panoply of human viruses quickly made the strain an important virus-identification tool. In 1967, the cells became a workhorse in a World Health Organization survey of viruses causing lower respiratory tract infections in hospitalized children on four continents.”

“The Catholic Church permits temporary use of vaccines generated using aborted fetal tissue to protect children from preventable diseases until alternative vaccines that do not use aborted fetal tissue are available. In medical research, cell lines that were generated from elective abortions should be avoided and alternative cell lines of licit origin utilized.”

“[T]he benefits of using the cells are widely thought to vastly outweigh them, and many religious organisations which are otherwise anti-abortion have publicly announced their support for the use of vaccines manufactured this way when no other alternatives exist, including the Catholic Church, although it did express a need for alternative sources of vaccines. ”