A number of you have asked me about the morality of receiving the COVID-19 vaccinations and, in particular, the most recent vaccination made available through Johnson & Johnson. Your concern is due to the reported use of aborted fetuses in the development and production of these vaccines. It is a very valid concern and I applaud you for asking this question. I’m sure you recognize that I am a staunch pro-life advocate and would not want to encourage abortion for any reason.
On the other hand, it is important to fully understand the morality behind the issue. As a moral theologian – you may recall that my doctoral studies in Rome were in the field of morality, with a specialty in issues concerning marriage and family life – I have studied this matter very carefully. Unfortunately, some Catholics are deciding to forego the vaccine, putting their own health and that of others at risk. I am afraid that, in the zeal to advance the cause against abortion, misguided advice on Catholic teaching may inadvertently lead some to take a position that, ironically, puts lives in danger – the exact opposite of the goal of the pro-life movement.
Three questions require answers: 1) what direction have we received from the Vatican; 2) can a vaccine be morally compromised; and 3) would conscientious objection in this regard in any way diminish the current practice of abortion?
Let me begin with the guidance we have received from the Vatican. Both the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the recently established Vatican COVID-19 Commission, in collaboration with the Pontifical Academy for Life, addressed this very question. Knowing that some of the vaccines had been produced using two cell lines from fetuses aborted in 1964 and 1970, both of these Vatican offices have made it clear that all of the vaccines currently in use are morally acceptable. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith noted that, due to the very production and distribution challenges we are currently experiencing here in the U.S.A. and, indeed, globally, “it is morally acceptable to receive Covid-19 vaccines that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research and production process.” It continues that, due to the “grave danger” presented by the “uncontainable spread of a serious pathological agent – in this case, the pandemic spread of the SARS-CoV2 virus that causes Covid-19, …all vaccines recognized as clinically safe and effective can be used in good conscience.” And, this Vatican Congregation emphasizes that while vaccination – like all medical interventions – is voluntary, there is a moral “duty to protect one’s own health [as well as] the duty to pursue the common good.” (All italics here are in the original).
Given the clarity of the Vatican guidance on the COVID-19 vaccines, let me address where the claim that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is “morally compromised” arose. It comes from a statement made by the National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC), an organization that has long advised U.S. bishops on issues of bioethics. In a statement that the NCBC issued prior to the Vatican guidelines I quoted above, the issue of the use of two 50+-year-old fetal cell lines in design, testing and/or particularly manufacturing was raised. But, as the Pontifical Academy for Life has stated so clearly: the moral evil lies in the actions (of those involved in the original abortion or in the decision to turn tissues from these fetuses into research materials or of those who decide to use these tissues in their own research), not in the vaccines or the material itself.
Although tissue from aborted fetuses was used in their development, the current vaccines have no relationship with current abortions. Thus, whether one receives or avoids a particular vaccine neither impedes nor advances the abortion industry. Certainly, as every Vatican statement on this topic has made clear, the Church remains committed to advocacy efforts aimed at “ensuring that every vaccine has no connection in its preparation to any material originating from an abortion.” But putting human lives at grave risk of mortality or lifelong morbidity is shortsighted and not an ethical advocacy strategy.
The Vatican has made clear that all the COVID-19 vaccines are morally acceptable and I encourage everyone to get a vaccine – whichever one becomes available to you – to help us all overcome this deadly virus. Let us pray that this clearly pro-life position will be proclaimed with one voice by our global Church as we work together to protect life and advance the common good.