Using Abortion-Derived Vaccines: A Moral Analysis

Abstract

Using Abortion-Derived Vaccines: A Moral Analysis* Ezra Sullivan O.P. and Leon Kuriakos Pereira** O.P. Introduction: Object of This Study “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly,” said Jesus Christ (John 10:10), who offers eternal life through union with him by divine grace.1 In the words of John Paul II, this is the “Gospel of Life” which proclaims the inherent dignity of each human life “from its very beginning to its end”—a dignity that every person sincerely open to truth and goodness can recognize. All are called to “affirm the right of every human being to have this primary good respected to the highest degree,” for, the Pope explained, “upon the recognition of this right, every human community and the political community itself are founded.”2 In the past year (2020–2021), the biological and spiritual life of nearly the entire world has been negatively affected by the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) virus, whether directly or indirectly, sometimes in devastating ways. Media provided daily updates about infection rates and death-counts, about rising debt levels, about government-mandated measures including incarceration of citizens within their homes and, more recently, the diffusion [End Page 1011] of vaccines for a majority of citizens. These vaccines are a source of hope for many. Camus, in his psychologically astute novel The Plague (1947), describes how citizens shut up for months by an epidemic longed to leave the confines of their municipality. For a time, guards would gun down anyone who tried to escape. But when the plague had run its course and claimed numerous lives, the gates of the town finally opened and the people jubilantly rejoined long-separated loved ones. In our day, many see the whole world like Camus’s disease-stricken town and many hope that safe vaccines will open the gates of their lockdown and provide a passport to a healthier world. Tens of millions have already received vaccines for COVID-19, and hundreds of millions, if not billions, are slated to do so. Vaccine use has provoked controversy however. For years, some vaccines have been designed, developed and produced using cells derived from aborted fetuses. Many vaccines for COVID-19 have followed suit. Large numbers of Catholics and other people of good will are in a state of perplexed conscience, not knowing what course of action is morally acceptable. Even worse, they are not receiving unanimous guidance, because some authorities have strongly declared themselves in favor of the vaccines whereas other authorities are strongly against them. Nearly the entire world is being drawn into a moral relation to the vaccines: deliberately taking or rejecting them is a moral decision. It is therefore appropriate to consider these issues in an orderly and sober manner, so that neither bodies nor souls may be harmed in this situation. For the sake of thoroughness and clarity, we address some issues found in treatises of moral theology, for many of the treatises disagree with each other, or present only partial treatments of relevant material, or include errors. The object of this inquiry is to investigate the morality of receiving vaccines which have been developed by using cells derived from one of the gravest evils in our time, namely, through the direct killing of children. Through this investigation, we hope to show that certain conditions may render receiving such vaccines morally acceptable, although receiving unethically-derived vaccines is not recommendable without qualification, and in every choice the pandemic offers the Catholic Church and all people of upright conscience a chance to recommit to upholding and defending the inviolable dignity of human life. Much of the impetus of this article comes from requests received from many different quarters to address the morality of receiving vaccines derived from illicit sources. Disagreement about this issue has created significant rifts among Catholics of good will. By the time this work is published, the decision of whether to receive a vaccine or not will have already been made by a majority of people. Nevertheless, we hope that the [End Page 1012] principles outlined here can provide a model for moral decision-making in the future, and help put to rest...