Aborted Babies in COVID Vaccines?

Written by Paula Ryan

With the number of deaths in the United States officially attributed to COVID-19 (defined by the CDC as anyone who died with COVID-19, though not necessarily because of it) now around 230,000 and a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases throughout the U.S. over the past few weeks, a growing sense of urgency has been created for a COVID-19 vaccine. Several companies are developing what are said to be promising vaccine candidates, and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar said earlier this week that a vaccine should be ready for the most vulnerable subgroups by the end of this year.

While many see this as good news, there are some serious ethical concerns surrounding these vaccines that need to be addressed.

To begin with, six out of the ten major COVID-19 vaccine programs use cells from electively aborted fetuses for vaccine production, which makes these vaccine programs highly controversial and creates the likelihood that many will be unwilling to receive the vaccine. This is an ethical dilemma that members of the pro-life community have wrestled with since the 1960s, when researchers first advocated for the use fetal tissue from elective abortions to create cell lines to manufacture vaccines. Two of these cell lines are the ones being used in five of the leading COVID-19 vaccine candidates.

Many individuals have come to terms with the use of fetal tissue derived from abortions that were performed over 50 years ago since it isn’t directly causing additional harm, while still opposing the use of newly harvested fetal tissue. This is also the position of the Trump administration which, in June 2019, announced through HHS that it would suspend research “that requires new acquisition of fetal tissue from elective abortions,” while still allowing the use of aborted fetal tissue through older cell lines.

As Dr. David Prentice, Vice President and Director of Research for the Charlotte Lozier Institute suggests, for many, the ethical dilemma surrounding the use of such cells for vaccine production will still raise problems of conscience for many who are offered the vaccine even though these cells have been propagated for years in a laboratory and are far removed from the abortion. This is because the connection between the abortion – the ending of a human life – and the cell lines derived from the harvesting of the fetal tissue cannot be denied.

In reality, this should not even be an issue, since viable vaccines can and have been made without using aborted fetal tissue. So, not only is this practice highly ethically questionable, it’s not at all necessary to achieving the same result. For example, vaccines for polio, measles, and mumps were created by monkey cells and chicken eggs. The fact of the matter is, there are several successful alternatives available for creating vaccines that do NOT require the use of aborted fetal tissue, which are proven to be scientifically viable and often scientifically preferable. And according to Dr. Tara Sander Lee, Associate Scholar for the Charlotte Lozier Institute, not one single person would be prevented from being vaccinated today if we stopped harvesting fresh tissues from aborted fetuses, nor would the future development of new vaccines be hindered.

Furthermore, research shows that human cell lines for vaccines can easily be produced ethically by deriving them from adult cells. For example, cell lines could be created by using tissue that is discarded during surgery or by using organs that are donated after death. If, however, researchers truly do need to use fetal cells, they could derive their cell cultures from tissue donated from prematurely born infants who die of natural causes. Ethically speaking, in these scenarios, developing a cell line would be no different than using donated organs.

Given this information, it begs the question: If there are other ethical methods that can successfully be used to create a vaccine for COVID-19, why are researchers still determined to use aborted fetal tissue? One reason might be that advocating for the use of harvested body parts from aborted children provides the abortion industry with a reason to continue the ghoulish practice of abortion. What makes matters worse is that they are using the pandemic and the fears of those who are vulnerable to COVID-19 to further their twisted agenda.

Wherever a person falls in his or her convictions about vaccinations, they will be well served by deciding ahead of time – before these COVID vaccines become a reality, and perhaps even a requirement – exactly what they are willing, and unwilling, to accept.

This article was originally published at The Family Foundation blog.

Leftist Hostility to Pence, Prayer, and God

Written by Emily Carder

A meme circulating Facebook depicts a disconcerting dystopian scene: A man in a trench he cannot climb out of is warming himself before a fire; he has used the rungs of the ladder he could have used to climb out of the trench to build the fire. So, he has destroyed his own means of freedom for temporary comfort.

Vice President Mike Pence openly prays to His Heavenly Father for guidance before taking action. He is currently being chided for his 2015 response to an AIDS outbreak in Indiana. Does anyone seriously think the time Pence took to pray is actually responsible for more AIDS infection? Yes. Read for yourself:

Pence’s slow response to the quick spread of HIV in Scott County, Indiana in 2015 led to the infection of over 200 people. When the idea of a needle exchange to slow the infection rate of the illness was presented to Pence he responded by saying, “I’m going to go home and pray on it.”[1]

There you have it. The spread of AIDS in Scott County, IN, is Pence’s fault because he took time to pray.

Fast forward to the current “crisis,” the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Pence is now spearheading the government’s response. What is his first course of action? To pray. To which Fox News’s Jessica Tarlov snarks,

“Well, with climate science, he thinks you should pray on it,” Tarlov replied. “If you have HIV, you should go to a doctor. If you have a Coronavirus, you should go to a doctor. And this isn’t about insulting prayer, it’s just saying that that kind of policy and that kind of thinking is outdated and has no place in modern society.”[2]

When was the last time Newsweek or anyone in the MSM spoke against euthanasia? Anything other than glowing approval of abortion up to birth? Giddy joy for no medical care for born-alive aborted infants? I have a question for those, like Tarlov, who warm themselves at the self-conceited bonfires du jour: How many living infants were left to die following abortions; how many infants were dismembered in utero; how many children began transsexual disfigurement, chemical or surgical, in the time it took for her to utter her ill-considered denouncement of Pence and prayer? Though she claims this is not “about insulting prayer,” it is precisely that. Rather, it is about insulting the one to whom prayer is addressed. It is blatant and open anti-Christianity. Pence is unqualified because he is a practicing Christian according to Tarlov.

It’s not as though the Newseek authors and Tarlov don’t have their own religion. They do. When Newsweek suggests Pence’s prayer caused greater suffering, and when Tarlov dismisses prayer as a rightful response in the modern era, it is because they have different gods. When government is looked to as the solution for all needs, it becomes a god. Not too long ago some were suggesting a “Scroogian” resolution to the climate crisis: reduce the surplus population. [3] It still needed to be decided who the surplus were, and who decided.

Yet, we are well on our way with the likes of Bernie Sanders and the advocates of euthanasia. Still, with the advent of COVID-19, it seemed rather ironic there was so much panic in the face of such a natural population eliminator. In all seriousness, what this demonstrates is that those who celebrate abortion but then panic over COVID-19 actually do hold life to be valuable. It is the Creator of life they reject. When lives are in the trenches, it’s the ladders they don’t mind burning.

In his explanation of the First Commandment Martin Luther wrote, “To have a God properly means to have something in which the heart trusts completely.”^[4] He builds on that thought in both his Morning and Evening Prayers when he borrows from Christ’s own praying of Psalm 22 on the cross, “For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things.”[5] If we return to the image at the beginning of this short piece, a ladder is the answer to a prayer sent into the trench (i.e., a crisis) in which we live. Either we use it as God intends, or we burn it. It all depends on who we believe sent the ladder, on how we treasure Him and His gifts.

If God is the Creator of all that is seen and unseen, then He is the one who also sustains it. And it is He who daily and richly supplies all our needs. We need daily bread, that is, food. His Son taught us to pray for it. Yet it does not magically appear on our tables. God sends farmers. God still sends favorable weather for crops in due season. We pray for bountiful harvests. Likewise, we pray for good government and peace in our nation, that all our economic efforts may be productive.

We need each other’s vocations, neighbors serving neighbors through our various careers and interests. We live in union with each other. In Luke 12:22-28 Jesus teaches us how the Heavenly Father regards the least of His creatures, birds of the air and lilies of the field. If they do not have a care because He feeds and clothes them, why should we, who are His treasured ones, the ones for whom His own Son died? In all ways it is a matter of perspective. If God is the giver of all good gifts, then we are also the stewards of all He gives.

Pence isn’t only praying—as Newsweek’s and Tarlov’s derision suggests. The VP is also working with people of differing vocations. His COVID-19 Task Force consists of members from many disciplines. Among them are,

Ambassador Debbie Brix, White House Corona Virus Response Coordinator; Secretary Alex Azar, Department of Health and Human Services; Dr. Robert Redfield, Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Dr. Anne Schuchat, Principal Deputy Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Dr. Stephen Hahn, Commissioner of Food and Drugs, Food and Drug Administration; Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.[6] (not exhaustive)

When God answers prayers, He sends people of various vocations to be in service to each other through acts of mercy to each other, to be stewards of His gifts to and with each other for the greater good.

So, in the depth of life’s trenches, we pray. (And when aren’t we in the trenches?) He surrounds us by a host of angels. For, He is our refuge and strength (Psalm 46; Psalm 91). Sometimes we might even imagine He sends us a ladder in the form of soap and water to wash our hands, often and much.

Footnotes:

[1] https://www.newsweek.com/mike-pences-pray-it-plan-combat-indiana-hiv-outbreak-resurfaces-after-trump-taps-vp-lead-1489344

[2] https://www.rawstory.com/2020/02/fox-news-pundit-slams-mike-pence-for-pushing-prayer-over-science-he-shouldnt-be-anywhere-near-coronavirus/

[3] https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/population_and_sustainability/climate/; https://www.inverse.com/article/48236-population-control-can-help-climate-change; https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/population-climate-change-1.5331133

^[4] Tappert, T. G. (Ed.). (1959). The Book of Concord the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (p. 366). Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press.

[5] Rydecki, Paul A. (Tr.). (2018) Luther’s Small Catechism; An Introduction to the Catholic Faith. (p. 39). Paul A. Rydecki.

[6] https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/03/06/vp-mike-pence-provides-coronavirus-task-force-update-grand-princess-cruise-ship-has-21-testing-positive/

The Left’s War On Conscience

Written by James Rossi

During a [recent] congressional hearing, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary, Alex Azar, testified in front of the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce. During the hearing, U.S. Representative Bobby Scott (D-VA) pursued an aggressive line of questioning, which highlighted a tragic religious liberty attack that has become increasingly common in recent years.

Scott repeatedly pressed Secretary Azar in regards to Christian adoption agencies and their placement policies. Essentially, the issue involves the question of whether Christian adoption agencies should be coerced into violating their consciences by being forced to place children with same-sex couples. The hearing revealed Scott’s alignment with the increasingly mainstream Left on this issue, who are actively striving to force Christian adoption agencies to compromise their religious beliefs by allowing the placement of children to same-sex couples.

Sadly, many Christian adoption agencies have been given the choice between violating their most deeply held religious convictions and shutting down. As a result, several faith-based adoption agencies have already closed their doors, including the Catholic Charities in Boston, San Francisco, and Illinois. Among the frequent attempts by the Left to strip religious liberty away from Christians, this is one of the most damaging examples. Not only is the Left harming the Christians who are losing their religious freedom, but also the thousands of children who receive life-changing aid from these organizations. As Secretary Azar accurately pointed out in the hearing, faith-based adoption agencies “have a long history of providing social services to poor and underprivileged children as well as families, and if we take steps to exclude faith-based groups from our programs, it will harm them and harm efforts to support our programs.”

Indicative of the Left’s movement as a whole, they have chosen to place their radical ideology ahead of the well-being of these children. Unfortunately, the stories of Christian adoption agencies closing down is only a small piece of a much larger picture: the Left’s relentless attack on the religious liberty of faithful Christians. The battle against Christian adoption agencies is not about an attempt to ensure that same-sex couples can adopt children, for there are already numerous adoption agencies that are willing and happy to place children with same-sex couples. Instead, it is simply about the Left’s continued attempt to ram their radical ideology down the throats of faithful Christians.

As we witness time and time again, in the great irony of our age, a war of intolerance is being waged against Christians under the banner of “tolerance.” In this unique moment of history, Christians have to decide whether to obey the truths of their faith and the judgements of their conscience or bow down to the altar of tolerance.

James is a 2018 Summer Policy Intern at The Family Foundation and a student at Christendom College.

This article was originally published on the FamilyFoundation.org blog.