Churches overcoming ‘moral’ qualms on vax
Fetal-cell ties to research stir questions
In a growing consensus, religious leaders at the forefront of the anti-abortion movement in the United States are telling their followers that the leading vaccines available to combat COVID-19 are acceptable to take, given their remote and indirect connection to lines of cells derived from aborted fetuses.
Southern Baptist megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress, an outspoken foe of abortion based in Dallas, has called the vaccines a “present from God.”
“To ask God for help but then refuse the vaccine makes no more sense than calling 911 when your house is on fire, but refusing to allow the firemen in,” Jeffress said in an email. “There is no legitimate faith-based reason for refusing to take the vaccine.”
The Rev. Al Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, also has celebrated the development of vaccines.
“I will take it not only for what I hope will be the good of my own health, but for others as well,” he said on his website.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which says fighting abortion is its “preeminent” priority, said last month that getting vaccinated against the coronavirus “ought to be understood as an act of charity toward the other members of our community,” according to a statement by the chairmen of its Committee on Doctrine and Committee on Pro-Life Activities.
The bishops said it is morally acceptable for Catholics to use either of the two vaccines approved for use in the U.S. — made by Pfizer and Moderna — despite a “remote connection to morally compromised cell lines.”
This entailed the use of fetal cell lines for lab tests seeking to confirm the vaccines’ effectiveness.
Another leading vaccine, made by AstraZeneca and approved for use in Britain and some other countries, is “more morally compromised,” and should be avoided if there are alternatives available, the bishops said.
Coinciding with the USCCB, four bishops in Colorado issued their own statement taking a somewhat more negative stance on AstraZeneca, describing it as “not a morally valid option.”
AstraZeneca used a cell line known as HEK293 to develop its vaccine.
According to the Oxford University team that developed it, the original HEK293 cells were taken from the kidney of an aborted fetus in 1973, but the cells used now are clones of the original cells and are not the original fetal tissue.
As the first vaccines neared approval last year, some Catholic bishops warned they might be morally unacceptable. Among them was Bishop Joseph Brennan of Fresno, Calif., who urged Catholics not to jump on the “vaccine bandwagon.”
He later modified his stance, saying that due to health risks for individuals and communities, “Catholics may ethically decide for serious reasons to utilize such vaccines.”
Also questioning the vaccines was Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, who has depicted any use of aborted fetuses in vaccine development as evil and says he won’t take any of the currently available vaccines.
“The church has said that under some circumstances receiving the vaccine is permissible and I do not dispute that,” he said via email. “The church has also said we should vigorously call for morally produced vaccines, and I urge those who take the vaccine to join that mission and demand change.”
Strickland is encouraging donations to the John Paul II Medical Research Institute, which supports research aimed at developing what it calls “ethical” cell lines — using adults’ stem cells — that would be used in the manufacturing of vaccines and other medical therapies.
Some other outspokenly anti-abortion bishops have embraced the vaccines.
“As a Christian engages the world, it’s impossible, in many settings, to completely avoid cooperating with moral evil,” tweeted Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, R.I. “The church, on multiple levels, has said that it’s morally acceptable to receive the vaccines that are currently available. I agree.”
Bishop Richard Stika of Knoxville, Tenn., said he had no qualms about getting vaccinated. “I just hope they don’t implant a microchip in my arm to ascertain when I cheat on my diet,” he joked on Twitter.
Among Protestant evangelical leaders, who generally have strong anti-abortion views, there’s been relatively little anti-vaccine rhetoric, said the Rev. Russell Moore, who heads the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention.
“I wouldn’t be able to think of one evangelical pastor who’s saying, ‘Don’t be vaccinated,’ ” he said.
A more notable challenge for pastors, Moore said, is countering anti-vaccine conspiracy theories embraced by some members of their congregations or communities — for example that the vaccines would alter a recipient’s DNA or covertly implant a microchip.
COVID-19 has killed more than 376,000 Americans, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.