For years Right to Life of Michigan has made information available about the connection between abortion and vaccines. This issue finds itself in the news at times, most recently it made a splash in the national news when a mother in Metro Detroit discovered the disturbing link herself. She had to go to court with her ex-husband after refusing to immunize her child with vaccines using aborted fetal tissue.
With the pro-vaccine/anti-vaccine debate running rampant these days, the message of educating yourself on the simple facts regarding vaccines can get lost in translation. The minute you raise any concern about a vaccine, you are hit on both sides of the spectrum with opposing arguments. Often people won't take the time to read past a headline; they are stuck between a busy schedule, a blitzkrieg-style news cycle, and the feeling that they've seen and heard all of the arguments before. That's not a recipe for understanding.
One simple fact people need to be aware of is the reality that aborted fetal tissue is used to create cell lines for medical research.
We believe such research is unethical for two important reasons. First, medical subjects need to give proper consent before research is performed. The unborn aren't allowed to give consent; they aren't even allowed the dignity of being recognized as human. Second, the use of aborted babies in medical research and development creates a perverse incentive to encourage more taking of human life.
Using the bodies of broken babies is completely unnecessary.
This past October the FDA approved a new form of the shingles vaccine that was created without using aborted fetal tissue. This new vaccine, Shingrix, is already seen as more effective than the abortion-tainted alternative Zostavax. Shingrix is being recommended as the new standard to replace the old. The new vaccine was created using cells lines from hamsters. Zostavax was created using the lung of a 14-week healthy baby boy killed by an elective abortion.
Shingrix is a positive development because there was no ethically-sourced alternative to the shingles vaccine. Several vaccines produced using tissue from aborted babies also have ethical alternatives, but several do not. Right now there are no approved alternatives for Adenovirus, Chickenpox, Hepatitis A, Measles, Mumps, or Rubella in the United States.
What can you do to protect yourself?
Talk to your doctor and see what sort of alternatives you have available. It is important to ask them questions and find out the name of the vaccine you are requesting. Use the simple cheat sheet we created. The information comes directly from the vaccines' package inserts. Our resource will help you know which vaccines used cell lines from aborted babies and find available alternatives. Please keep in mind many doctors may never have heard this information before. You may have to patiently walk even prolife doctors through this information and encourage them to read the package inserts of the vaccines they use.
The choice about using these vaccines is up to you. We must all agree, however, that there is no need to take human lives to make new medical advances. With continued education we can hope pharmaceutical companies focus on producing only ethical alternatives.
