In a growing consensus, religious leaders at the helm of the anti-abortion movement in the United States are telling their followers that the major vaccines available to fight COVID-19 are acceptable, given their remote and indirect connection to derived cell lines. . of aborted fetuses.
A staunch enemy of abortion based in Dallas, the pastor of the Southern Baptist megishurch, Robert Jeffress, has called vaccines a “gift from God.”
“Asking God for help, but then rejecting the vaccine, makes no more sense than calling 911 when your house is on fire, but refusing to allow firefighters to enter,” Jeffress said in an email. “There is no legitimate faith-based reason to refuse to get the vaccine.”
Reverend Al Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, has also celebrated its development.
“I will take it not only for what I hope will be for the good of my own health, but also for others,” he said on his website.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which says fighting abortion is its “preeminent” priority, said last month that vaccinating against the coronavirus “should be understood as an act of charity toward the other members of our community, “according to a statement. by the chairs of its Doctrine Committee and the Pro-Life Activities Committee.
The bishops said it is morally acceptable for Catholics to use either of the two vaccines approved for the United States (made by Pfizer and Modern) despite a “remote connection to morally compromised cell lines.” This led to the use of fetal cell lines for laboratory tests that wanted to confirm the effectiveness of the vaccines.
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 alternatives are available, the bishops said.
Coinciding with the USCCB, four bishops of Colorado issued their own statement taking a slightly 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 extracted from the kidney of an aborted fetus in 1973, but the cells in use today are clones of the cells. original cells and are not the original fetal tissue.
When the first vaccines approached approval last year, some Catholic bishops warned they could be morally unacceptable. Among them was Bishop Joseph Brennan of Fresno, California, who urged Catholics not to jump on the “vaccine cart.”
He later modified his stance by saying that because of the health risks to individuals and communities, “Catholics may decide ethically for serious reasons to use these vaccines.”
Bishop Joseph Strickland, of Tyler, Texas, also questioned the vaccines, which has described any use of aborted fetuses in vaccine development as bad and says he will not take any of the vaccines currently available.
“The Church has said that in some circumstances vaccination is allowed and I do not discuss it,” he said by email. “The Church has also said that we should vigorously ask for morally produced vaccines and I urge those who take the vaccine to join this mission and demand change.”
Strickland is encouraging donations to the John Paul II Institute for Medical Research, which supports research aimed at developing what he calls “ethical” cell lines, using adult stem cells, which would be used. in the manufacture of vaccines and other medical therapies.
Some other outspoken anti-abortion bishops have adopted vaccines.
“Because a Christian involves the world, it is impossible, in many contexts, to completely avoid cooperation with moral evil,” tweeted Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, Rhode Island. “The Church, on several levels, has said it is morally acceptable to receive the vaccines currently available. I agree.”
Bishop Richard Stika of Knoxville, Tennessee, said he had no hesitation in getting vaccinated.
“I just hope I don’t implant any microchips in my arm to know when I’m cheating on my diet,” he joked on Twitter.
Among Protestant evangelical leaders, who generally have a strong view against abortion, there has been relatively little rhetoric against vaccines, according to the Rev. Russell Russell, who heads the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention.
“I wouldn’t be able to think of an evangelical pastor saying,‘ Don’t get vaccinated, ’” he said.
A more notable challenge for pastors, Moore said, is to combat unfounded vaccine conspiracy theories adopted by some members of their congregations or communities, for example, that vaccines would alter a recipient’s DNA or disguise them. a microchip.
Globally, the Vatican has published guidelines largely similar to those of U.S. bishops, declaring it morally acceptable for Catholics to receive COVID-19 vaccines based on research using cells derived from aborted fetuses.
One difference: he did not name or give details about specific vaccines. The Vatican plans to use the Pfizer vaccine starting this week for employees and their families, and Pope Francis – in an interview with an Italian channel airing this weekend – said he had an appointment to vaccinate. -se.
The Vatican has suggested that it is wrong to reject a vaccine based solely on objection to abortion, as the refusal “can also pose a risk to others.”
Nicanor Austriaco, a molecular biologist and Catholic priest who teaches at U.S. and Philippine universities, said the Vatican has adequately addressed faith-based concerns about vaccines indirectly related to research using aborted fetal cells.
“The moral evil contemplated here” took place in the 1970s when the original cell line was created, Austriaco said, “and it is remote.”
G. Kevin Donovan, a professor of pediatrics at Georgetown University who runs the Pilgrim Center for Clinical Bioethics, said the leaders of his Catholic faith could not have been “clearer.”
“The advantage that Catholics have is that … the highest levels of authority have made it very clear that this is morally acceptable,” Donovan said.
In Indonesia, where the world’s largest Muslim population is located, a Muslim clerical council has been included in the process of acquiring vaccines from this nation to ensure that a product is halal or acceptable for use according to the Islamic legislation. In the past, the council ruled that some vaccines against other diseases were unacceptable because they used gelatin derived from pork.
But on Friday the council approved China’s synovac vaccine COVID-19, paving the way for its distribution in Indonesia.
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Associated Press writers Elana Schor in Washington, Nicole Winfield in Rome, and Victoria Milko in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.
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Associated Press religious coverage is supported by Lilly Endowment through The Conversation US. The AP is solely responsible for this content.