The United States Catholic Bishops’ Conference this week encouraged Catholics to choose COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer or Moderna over Johnson & Johnson, if possible, because inoculation of the latter was developed from stem cells obtained over two abortions for decades.
Bishop Kevin Rhoades, chairman of the conference’s Doctrine Committee, and archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, chairman of the conference’s Pro-Life Activities Committee, in a statement Tuesday urged Catholics to choose the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine over Johnson & Johnson, if a choice is available.
But they added that it is “morally acceptable” for worshipers to receive any COVID-19 vaccine if no choice is available, calling vaccination “an act of charity that serves the common good”.
Pfizer and Moderna used cell lines derived from fetal tissue to test their vaccines, according to several reports. However, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was developed from stem cells obtained in two abortions.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine became the third authorized candidate for emergency use in the United States earlier this month, after inoculations from Moderna and Pfizer were approved in December.
Catholic groups that oppose abortion have long criticized medical companies that use human cell lines from aborted fetuses.
Several dioceses in the United States have also expressed concern about the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
The Catholic archdiocese of New Orleans last week called the Johnson & Johnson vaccine “morally compromised” in relation to the use of stem cells obtained in abortions.
The Vatican released in December the guidance that it is acceptable for Catholics around the world to receive COVID-19 vaccines “that used cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research and production process” when the “ethically faultless” coronavirus vaccines are not available.
Pope Francis
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Johnson & Johnson said in a statement to The Hill: “We are able to manufacture hundreds of millions of doses using our designed cell line system and we hope to distribute those doses worldwide and help meet critical needs.”
The statement also noted that the vaccine “uses an inactivated non-infectious adenovirus vector – similar to a cold virus – that encodes the coronavirus ‘peak’ (S) protein” and that “there is no fetal tissue in the vaccine”.
Updated: 19h25