Scott Tibbs
COVID-19 vaccines and aborted cell lines
By Scott Tibbs, March 29, 2021
Can pro-life people take a COVID-19 vaccine? I have seen some controversy about this online, and recently had a discussion with a longtime pro-life activist about it. Here is what NebraskaMD.com
had to say about the origin of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines:
However, both companies used the fetal cell line HEK 293 in the confirmation phase to ensure the vaccines work. All HEK 293 cells are descended from tissue taken from a 1973 elective abortion that took place in the Netherlands.
Here is my take. Regarding the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, the abortion in question took place in 1973, before I was even born. The fetal cell line for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine came from a baby killed in 1985, which is still 36 years ago.
Over 540,000 have already died in this country alone and 2.7 million have died worldwide from COVID-19. Given that the vaccines have the potential to save millions of lives I do not believe that there is a fatal moral or ethical problem with taking a vaccine derived from an abortion that took place forty-seven years earlier. Yes, killing an innocent baby in 1973 was terrible. But there is nothing we can do about that now.
It is also important to note that the babies in question were not killed for the purpose of scientific research. The vaccines were developed from cell lines that existed 46 and 34 years before anyone knew about the novel coronavirus or expected a global pandemic from that virus.
Some people will refuse to take the vaccine because the source of vaccine. While I do not agree, I respect that conviction. We all have to follow our conscience in this matter.
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