Covid Vaccines: Should we?
by Dr Pravin Thevathasan
Let us now examine the morality of having the vaccine. Can the use of fetal cell-lines at some stage in the development of some of the vaccines make it morally bad for us to have the vaccine? We need to remember that fetal cell-lines are not the same as fetal body parts. The body parts were sourced from an abortion that occurred some decades ago. If this was a so-called therapeutic abortion, it was gravely immoral. The tissues were then used to manufacture cell-lines. While these cell-lines are developed from the tissue, they do not include fetal material. Because I am pro-life, I will put it more bluntly: they do not have parts of the baby. If at all possible, I would opt for a vaccine that was not manufactured in this way. However, the reality is that I may not get that choice. So may I have a vaccine whose creation involved fetal cell lines at some stage? The speaker rightly states that the person who now takes the vaccine does not formally cooperate in the grave sin of the abortion that occurred some decades previously. But the speaker goes on to speak about the "use of the bodies of murdered children to create medicines and vaccines." Even though he should know that the cell-lines used were never part of the baby's body. The use of graphic abortion images in the presentation seems to suggest that if you are really pro-life, you should be anti-vaccine. Some of the best known pro-life groups appear to have taken this stance. So have some good bishops. The speaker appears to believe that the mortality rate in Covid is the same as in seasonal flu. It is not. It is much higher. How much higher is difficult to estimate while we are still in a pandemic. He correctly states that the Church is not pronouncing on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine. But he himself appears to take a somewhat skeptical stance on these issues. I am pro-life. But I have seen the
impact that Covid has had on the vulnerable and the disabled. I believe
that I am acting on my pro-life beliefs when I do everything reasonably
possible to keep them safe. This includes recommending that they have
the vaccine. |