The National Catholic Bioethics Center - Vaccines ...

1 Ethics & Medics, Volume 24, Number 33 Vaccines ORIGINATINGIN ABORTIONMany commonly used Vaccines have their origin in celllines that were originally developed from an abortedfetus. This poses a serious moral dilemma for those whooppose abortion. Two questions need to be examined:first, may a Catholic , in good conscience, use vaccinesderived from aborted materials, or is one obliged to refusethem? And, second, may a Catholic parent refuse tovaccinate a child? Vaccines and CooperationThe production of Vaccines begins with the growth ofa weakened strain of a known virus in culture .

2 Whenthis weakened strain is processed and later injected intothe body, it provokes an immune response that leads tothe production of antibodies. Should a person who hasbeen immunized encounter the virus at full strength, hisbody is ready to fend off the human cell lines (MRC-5 and WI-38) that areused to grow these weakened virus strains have theirorigins in cells derived from the lung tissue of abortedfetuses (Dan Maher, On the Use of Certain Vaccines , unpublished manuscript [1998, NCBC]). Althoughthese human cell lines could have been produced usingcells taken from other sources (thus avoiding the moralproblem entirely), the fact is that they were not.

3 In manycases, there is no other choice than either to make useof a tainted vaccine or to forgo vaccination Meruvax, a widely used vaccine for rubella(German measles) sold by Merck & Co., Inc., uses the WI-38 cell line. The chicken pox vaccine Varivax, producedby the same company, uses both MRC-5 and Beecham offers a vaccine called Havrix that has its origins in MRC-5. Havrix guards againstscarlet fever, rheumatic fever, kidney inflammation, andother hepatitis A immunization with these Vaccines ispermissible depends upon whether their use involves theCatholic in cooperation with evil.

4 Briefly, formalcooperation arises when an individual shares in theintention or the action of another who does what iswrong. Immoral material cooperation occurs when onewho cooperates makes an essential contribution to thecircumstances of a wrongdoer s act. Thus the questionabout Vaccines derived from aborted fetuses concernswhether or not their use involves the Catholic inimmoral cooperation with the evil of answer, in short, would appear to be no. For itseems impossible for an individual to cooperate with anaction that is now completed and exists in the , use of a vaccine in the present does not cause theone who is immunized to share in the immoral intentionor action of those who carried out the abortion in thepast.

5 Neither does such use provide some circumstanceessential to the commission of that past act. Thus useof these Vaccines would seem and ResponsesOne might object, however, that if we consent to theuse of these Vaccines , then we also consent to theirorigins in aborted fetal material. Such consent wouldrepresent a type of material cooperation with another objection would be that use involvesreceiving a benefit from the immoral actions of difference does it make, one might wonder, if theoriginal immorality is now a part of the past?

6 Mosttroubling, however, is the possibility that the presentuse of these Vaccines might encourage future that were true, then one might expect vaccination toconstitute immoral cooperation with are good and important objections, but they canbe met. First, if consent is defined as an act of agreementor approval, then consent of itself cannot involve the onewho uses a tainted vaccine in cooperation. For approvalof the immoral act of another is only an assent of themind, not an actual intention to perform the immoralact. Moreover, approval for an act of abortion is exactlywhat the faithful Catholic refuses to grant.

7 In light ofthis refusal, it would be unfair to suggest that by usingthe vaccine he has a state of mind that directlycontradicts his own interior state of disapproval. Evenif one were somehow to think that the original abortionwas a good act, this would only mean that this personpossessed a false opinion about an abortion. A falseopinion about an abortion, however, is not the same asformal or material cooperation with an for receiving benefits from past immoralities, thatis a common feature of our fallen world. Human historyis filled with injustice.

8 Acts of wrongdoing in the pastregularly redound to the benefit of descendants who hadno hand in the original crimes. It would be a highstandard indeed if we were to require all benefits that wereceive in the present to be completely free of everyimmorality of the does it seem that use of these Vaccines willencourage future abortions. Regrettably, the cell linesthat gave rise to MRC-5 and WI-38 began with tissuetaken from aborted human beings, but these immoralReproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without 24, No.

9 3 March 1999 Views expressed are those of indi-vidual authors and may advance po-sitions that have not yet been doc-trinally settled. Ethics & Medicsmakes every effort to publish articlesconsonant with the Magisterialteachings of the Catholic National Catholic Bioethics Center159 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02135 4325 Formerly The Pope John Center actions were one-time events. Since their firstbeginnings, the cells used for these lines have continuedto duplicate and grow in culture . There is little incentiveto begin new human cell lines when these are wellestablished and their various scientific properties Possibility of ScandalYet another objection concerns the problem ofscandal.

10 When a Catholic allows himself to beimmunized with these Vaccines it may appear to othersthat he acts hypocritically. Catholics, it will be said, talka lot about moral principles, but when it comes to theirown health or that of their children, they appear willingto abandon all previous moral would appear to be no objective basis for thecharge that one who uses these Vaccines cooperates inmoral wrongdoing; therefore, any scandal caused bytheir use must be purely subjective in , however, can be important.