PRO-LIFE WISCONSIN ADOPTS PERSONHOOD ALLIANCE OFFICIAL POSITION ON VACCINE ETHICS
By Matt Sande, Pro-Life Wisconsin Legislative Director
As Operation Warp Speed races forward in search of a safe and effective vaccine for the novel coronavirus, it is imperative that the pro-life movement lay down firm ethical parameters around this effort. On October 13, 2020, the national Personhood Alliance (PA) published its official position on vaccine ethics, the culmination of two months of work by PA affiliate representatives from eight states, both Catholic and Evangelical, and independent physician reviewers including Alan B. Moy, MD, President and Scientific Director of the John Paul II Medical Research Institute.
As a founding board member of the Personhood Alliance, I participated in crafting the position throughout August and September as a working member of the PA Vaccine Ethics Committee. Our position was formally approved by the PA Board of Directors and subsequently by the Pro- Life Wisconsin Board of Directors. Pro-Life Wisconsin is an affiliate member of the PA.
The Personhood Alliance vaccine ethics position begins with 10 foundational tenets, each individually sourced. Our position can be found here.
Tenet numbers one and six read:
1. Many vaccines are still produced and/or tested using human diploid cell cultures originally harvested from aborted human beings (hereby referenced as unethical vaccines), which in turn, has had an impact on families’ access to common, ethically produced vaccines at present;[…]
6. The production and testing of vaccines using the remains of aborted human beings, regardless of manner of conception and without their consent, is morally unacceptable and must be opposed. The Personhood Alliance strongly urges the rejection of such vaccines.
A good example of the implications of our high standard can be seen with the recent Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccine candidates, claimed to be 90% and 94.5% effective against the novel coronavirus, respectively. While both are ethically derived/produced, both are being unethically tested using HEK293 fetal cells harvested from the kidney of a preborn baby aborted in the Netherlands in 1973. One can see this clearly, under the “Confirmatory Lab Tests” column, on the Charlotte Lozier Institute website here. Accordingly, we would reject use of these vaccines.
The Personhood Alliance vaccine standard is high, eschewing both unethical production and testing, because if we continue to allow the use of aborted human beings in therapeutic development, at any point in the process, legal abortion will continue unabated.
Dr. Moy questioned, “Could Pfizer [and Moderna] have tested and validated their vaccine without using HEK293? The answer is yes. There are other immortalized human and non-immortalized human cell lines that could have been used. I have highlighted other alternative human cell lines that are ethically non-controversial.”
Ethical Vaccine Testing Alternatives (John Paul II Medical Research Institute)
HEPG2—An immortalized human cell line from a hepatic cancer
HeLA—An immortalized human cervical cell line
A549—An immortalized human alveolar cell line, which would have been more appropriate to test COVID-19 because it targets the alveolar cells
Alveolar cells derived from induced pluripotent stem cells
Human adult stem cells
Based on the 10 tenets, the Personhood Alliance vaccine ethics position concludes with the following dual resolutions:
BE IT RESOLVED that:
The production of a vaccine or any medical therapy derived from the remains of a human being intentionally killed is wholly unethical and should be made unlawful. The Personhood Alliance affirms the inalienable right to life of pre-born human beings, regardless of the manner of conception, and thus, their right not to be trafficked, commodified, and/or experimented upon. The Personhood Alliance also affirms the rights of all people to refuse medical treatment and to reject violations of their and their family members’ bodily integrity, moral conscience, and Constitutional protections through forced or coerced vaccines.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that:
The Personhood Alliance affirms that, while the family, the Church, and the State have distinct spheres of authority, the State is subordinate to the family and the Church in matters of vaccination. Therefore, we acknowledge that Christians of all stations have a duty to reject unethical vaccines, to inform others of the connection between abortion, human trafficking, and biomedical science, and to publicly demand that ethical alternatives be produced, tested, and brought to market by pharmaceutical companies and public health officials.
“Christians must demand an end to the trafficking and commodification of aborted human beings. Period,” said Sarah Quale, president of Personhood Alliance Education and chair of the Vaccine Ethics Committee. “Most of the COVID-19 candidates were produced and/or tested unethically, including 6 out of 8 of those chosen for Operation Warp Speed[…] We need to be consistent in our opposition to these therapies.”
And we must, with one unified voice, demand that our medical and civic leaders advance effective coronavirus therapies free of ethical controversy, so that those of us who choose to use them can do so in good conscience.