Which COVID-19 vaccines are connected to abortion?

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Which COVID-19 vaccines are connected to abortion?
'It must be clear that it is never morally justified to develop a vaccine through the use of the cell lines of aborted fetuses,' Cardinal Raymond Burke has said.

December 11, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – As various vaccines begin to be rolled out across the world, in apparent response to COVID-19, questions remain about the development and safety of many of the vaccines.

LifeSiteNews has compiled this short guide to some of the most prominent vaccines being offered and/or developed, sourcing material from our own reports and LifeSite’s dedicated page to COVID-19 vaccines.

The summary examines the development and testing of the vaccines from many angles: in relation to abortion; concerns about the scientific structure and the health effects of the vaccine; as well as responses from bishops and pro-life activists to the vaccines. Five vaccines connected to abortion, and two seemingly without any connection to abortion, are examined.

Two helpful charts can also be found, detailing which vaccines use cell lines from aborted babies, and at what stage the cell lines are used. 

Cardinal Raymond Burke, former Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, has previously spoken out against vaccines using aborted babies: “it must be clear that it is never morally justified to develop a vaccine through the use of the cell lines of aborted fetuses. The thought of the introduction of such a vaccine into one’s body is rightly abhorrent.” 

Aside from any connection to abortion, LifeSiteNews notes the comments of a number of experts who state that there is no need for mass vaccinations in order to end the coronavirus crisis. Dr. Michael Yeadon, who “spent over 30 years leading new [allergy and respiratory] medicines research in some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies,” and retired from Pfizer with “the most senior research position in this field,” wrote in Ocober: 

There is absolutely no need for vaccines to extinguish the pandemic. I’ve never heard such nonsense talked about vaccines. You do not vaccinate people who aren’t at risk from a disease. You also don’t set about planning to vaccinate millions of fit and healthy people with a vaccine that hasn’t been extensively tested on human subjects.

In an interview published this week Dr. Theresa Deisher (Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Physiology from Stamford University) stated “this virus to date has less than a 0.03% fatality rate and most of those people, I believe it's 92% or above, have other health problems; we're making a vaccine at warp speed for a virus that doesn't look like it's going to need a vaccine.”

In the same interview Deisher confirmed that in her opinion a rational person would be on solid ground to eschew any COVID-19 vaccine.


Pfizer vaccine – connected to abortion

Abortion link: The Pfizer vaccine is not developed using cell lines from aborted babies, but, “[o]ne of the confirmatory lab tests on the vaccine did sadly involve an old foetal cell-line.” The Children of God for Life organization notes that the Pfizer vaccine is tested using the HEK 293 cell line, which is derived from kidney tissue taken from a healthy baby who was aborted in the Netherlands in the 1970s.

Concerns about the structure of the vaccine: The Pfizer vaccine uses mRNA technology, a technology so novel that it has yet to be approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The method of inserting the mRNA into the patient’s cells intact, Lipid Nanoparticles (LNP’s), is not certified, as Moderna (which also uses mRNA) have stated that they cannot be sure their LNP’s will not have adverse effects.

The vaccine also has to be kept at unprecedentedly cold temperatures, -70°C (-94°F) – nearly twice as cold as the North Pole’s average temperature in the winter.

Safety concerns, side effects, and trial results: As mentioned, Pfizer’s vaccine uses extremely novel technology, which has never before been approved. 

Despite Pfizer’s claims of 90% safety, reports swiftly emerged showing that vaccine trial volunteers experienced “severe” side effects. Participants suffered headaches, fevers, and hangover-like symptoms.

A U.K. government warning for the vaccine stated that the vaccine should not be used by pregnant or breast-feeding mothers and children, and added that it was unaware of what effect the vaccine would have on fertility. Women should avoid becoming pregnant for two months after the vaccine, according to the document.
 
Dr. Michael Yeadon, former Vice President of Pfizer, co-authored a letter to the European Medicine Agency, warning that the vaccine may prevent the safe development of placentas in pregnant women, resulting in “vaccinated women essentially becoming infertile.”

Pfizer is also free from indemnity in the U.K. and in the U.S. 

Children’s Health Defense noted in an article that earlier this year “the U.S. quietly pushed through Federal regulations giving coronavirus vaccine makers full immunity from liability.” (Vaccine manufacturers in the U.S. already cannot be sued if their products injure or kill people thanks to a little-known law from the 1980s.)
After the first day of Pfizer vaccines being administered in the U.K., two people had allergic reactions, prompting the warning that people with a history of strong allergic reactions should not take it.

The U.S. FDA has warned of many serious side effects from any COVID vaccine, including heart attacks, strokes, and anaphylactic shock. 


Moderna vaccine – connected to abortion

Abortion link: The Moderna vaccine is also heavily connected to abortion. Children of God for Life compiled research to show that Moderna “extensively” uses the “aborted fetal cell line HEK-293” in the “fundamental design of mRNA technology, their Spike protein and in the research, development, production and testing.” The proteins used in the vaccine itself and the mRNA “were built on technology that extensively used aborted fetal cells, rendering the vaccine absolutely immoral from start to finish.”
Concerns about the structure of the vaccine: The Moderna vaccine uses mRNA technology, a technology so novel that it has yet to be approved for use by the FDA. The method of inserting the mRNA into the patient’s cells intact, Lipid Nanoparticles (LNP’s), is not certified, and Moderna have stated that they cannot be sure their LNP’s will not have adverse effects.

Safety concerns, side effects, and trial results: Concerns remain about the structure of the vaccine, since it uses such novel technology. 

Moderna has admitted that the vaccine will cause at least mild or moderate side effects. It also stopped the testing of its highest dose of vaccine, due to the number of reports of severe reactions. 

Animal testing was skipped altogether. Twenty percent of people receiving the high dose in trials needed hospitalization; only 45 people were tested, and they were specifically chosen for being exceptionally healthy and fit. 
A priest involved in the final phase of testing the vaccine, died unexpectedly in his home some weeks after his second jab, although it is unclear if his death was due to the vaccine. 

The U.S. FDA has warned of many serious side effects from any COVID vaccine, including heart attacks, strokes, and anaphylactic shock.

Father Robert Altier warned about the dangers of Moderna’s vaccine changing the RNA in one’s body, calling it “heinous” and “evil.” Bishop Strickland also warned people via Twitter against the Moderna vaccine, saying that it is not “morally produced,” urging people to reject it.


Oxford/AstraZeneca – connected to abortion

Abortion link: The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine has been developed from the cell lines of an aborted baby, the cell line HEK-293. It is also uses the fetal cell line in design and testing.

Structure of the vaccine: It uses viral vectors, which grow antigens to COVID-19 in the persons cells. The viral vectors are made using fetal cell lines from aborted babies to grow these vectors. 

Safety concerns, side effects, and trial results: The vaccine saw “adverse effects” in  60% of recipients in its early phase trial.

The vaccine trials were previously put on hold in September for several weeks due to a severe adverse reaction from a volunteer. 

A volunteer in the vaccine trials in Brazil died in October: reports are conflicting as to whether he died due to complications from the vaccine. 
The U.S. FDA has warned of many serious side effects from any COVID vaccine, including heart attacks, strokes, and anaphylactic shock.


Johnson and Johnson/ Janssen – connected to abortion

Abortion link: J&J uses the fetal cell line PER.C6 in the design, development, and testing of the vaccine. The PER.C6 fetal cell line was derived from retinal tissue taken from an 18-week-old baby boy who was aborted in the Netherlands in 1985 and later converted into a fetal cell line in 1995. The cell line is owned by Janssen.

Structure of the vaccine: The J&J vaccine uses an adenoviral vector, a “genetically modified virus that leads the body to produce a protein to which the immune system then reacts.”

Safety concerns, side effects, and trial results: Trials for the vaccine were placed on hold after a participant developed a mystery illness. The number of participants in the trial has now been dropped from 60,000 to 40,000.

The company is in phase 3 of trials and aims to file for approval for the vaccine in February. 

Children of God for Life notes that there are also considerable health risks contained in the fetal cell line.

As with other vaccines, the U.S. FDA has warned of many serious side effects from any COVID vaccine, including heart attacks, strokes, and anaphylactic shock.


Sanofi Pasteur & Translate Bio – connected to abortion

Abortion link: Recent research by the Charlotte Lozier Institute has shown that the mRNA vaccine, made in a partnership with Sanofi and Translate Bio, was tested on aborted fetal cell line HEK-293.

Structure of the vaccine: The vaccine uses mRNA technology, in the style of both Pfizer and Moderna. Moderna warned that they cannot be sure their LNP’s will not have adverse effects.

Safety concerns, side effects, and trial results: The joint vaccine has currently finished pre-clinical studies, which are reportedly favorable. Further stages of testing have yet to be conducted.


Sanofi Pasteur & GSK – seemingly free from abortion connection

Abortion link: Unlike the mRNA vaccine developed by Sanofi, it seems that the DNA based vaccine is produced without a link to abortion so far.

Structure of the vaccine: The DNA vaccine is made using DNA of the baculovirus expression platform, with Sanofi cultivating and developing the vaccine using the Sf9 cell line from the fall armyworm.

Safety concerns, side effects and trial results: The vaccine is not yet at phase 3 of its trials and results have not been sufficient, meaning that the vaccine will likely not be ready until late 2021. 

A conflict of interest could well exist with Sir Patrick Vallance, chief scientific advisor to the U.K. government. GSK has been contracted by the U.K. to make COVID-19 vaccines, but Vallance is the former president of the company and has shares in it worth £600,000.

In a July debate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., nephew of former U.S. president John F. Kennedy and an American environmental attorney and author, highlighted both Sanofi and GSK as being among several vaccine producers with a record of incurring criminal penalties for their products.

Kennedy noted that four of the leading developers of coronavirus vaccines, Glaxo, Sanofi, Pfizer, Merck, are “convicted serial felon[s].”

“In the past 10 years, just in the last decade, those companies have paid 35 billion dollars in criminal penalties, damages, fines, for lying to doctors, for defrauding science, for falsifying science, for killing hundreds of thousands of Americans knowingly,” Kennedy said during the debate.

“It requires a cognitive dissonance for people who understand the criminal corporate cultures of these four companies to believe that they’re doing this in every other product that they have, but they’re not doing it with vaccines.”


Novavax – seemingly free from abortion connection

Abortion link: The Novavax vaccine is not produced, developed, or tested on fetal cell lines, and does not have a link to abortion.

Structure of the vaccine: It is made using an invertebrate cell line Sf9 to produce protein nanoparticle antigens that make its vaccine work.

Safety concerns, side effects and trial results: Unlike many of the other vaccines, Novavax has conducted animal studies, which demonstrated an effective combatting of COVID-19.

The vaccine is currently in phase 3 trials, and results are expected in early 2021. 



LifeSiteNews has produced an extensive COVID-19 vaccines resources page. View it here.