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PONTIFICAL ACADEMY FOR LIFE STATEMENT OF VACCINES AND NCBC RESPONSE August 2, 2005 Philadelphia, PA. The Pontifical Academy for Life has responded to a query from a U.S. organization, the Children of God for Life. Their question concerned the moral legitimacy of parents immunizing their children when the vaccines have been manufactured using cell lines derived from tissue from an abortion. The abortions occurred decades ago and were unrelated to the production of the vaccines, that is to say, they were not carried out for the purpose of establishing cell lines in order to produce vaccines, but for other reasons. The response was in the form of an English translation of a commentary which appeared in Italian in the scholarly journal Medicina e Morale. The letter from Bishop Elio Sgreccia, President of the Academy, and the commentary can be found at the website of The National Catholic Bioethics Center. The document has created some confusion engendering headlines such as "Vatican Condemns Vaccines Using Fetal Tissue". First, the vaccines in question do not use "fetal tissue" but are grown in cell lines derived from fetal tissue. The commentary was issued by an advisory body to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in the Vatican. Finally, the commentary in fact does not condemn the use of these vaccines but states clearly that they may be used without moral guilt. The practical conclusion of the commentary is consistent with the position held by The National Catholic Bioethics Center. While deploring any act of direct abortion and the manufacture of vaccines using biological products resulting from such an act, the Pontifical Academy for Life has concluded that parents and physicians may make use of such vaccines without any immoral cooperation in abortion. The commentary rightly condemns any illicit cooperation by pharmaceutical firms in the destruction of embryonic or fetal life for purposes of manufacture or research. The moral principle of material cooperation in evil provides guidance for how individuals can cooperate with evil-doers in order to achieve good without thereby immorally contributing to evil. Applying this principle, the document concluded that the life and health of children, pregnant mothers, and the general population are great goods that must be preserved, especially in light of the fact that no immoral cooperation need occur in the use of the vaccines in question. The document states that parents have a duty to seek an alternative product when it is available, however, the extent of this duty is not articulated. Currently there are no federally approved alternatives against varicella, hepatitis A or rubella (German Measles). The document lays particular stress on the importance of immunizing against rubella because of its devastating effects upon unborn children in the womb, including serious birth defects and spontaneous abortions. In footnote #15, the summary holds parents who refuse the use of the rubella vaccine responsible for harm that might come to others because their children were not immunized. The Pontifical Academy for Life rejects the claim that Catholics have a moral duty to refuse the rubella vaccine on the grounds of conscience and Catholic teaching. It encourages Catholic parents to vaccinate their children against rubella and other serious diseases despite the unfortunate origin of the cell lines used in the manufacture of the vaccines. At the same time the Academy is very strong in its denunciation of the use of tissue or cells from aborted fetuses and insists that pharmaceutical firms reject their use and develop alternative cell lines for the manufacture of vaccines. |
