Charlotte, NC — The Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is expected to arrive across the country this week. It received approval from the FDA last week as the only single-dose COVID vaccine on the market. The company has argued that it has a nearly 70% effectiveness for those that receive the one dose.
It has also promoted its ability to store the vaccine at a much higher temperature than the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. They talk about how it will continue to promote public vaccine compliance. What they do not want to talk about is how the vaccine is made.
The New Orleans Archdiocese released a statement arguing that the Johnson and Johnson vaccine is morally compromised and that Catholics should choose the mRNA vaccines over the new vaccine. The reasoning? The Johnson and Johnson vaccine is manufactured from aborted fetal tissue.
Specifically, the Johnson and Johnson vaccine was manufactured from PER.C6 cell lines. First discovered in the 1980s, the PER.C6 is sold by many bioresearch firms to help in the production of vaccines, gene therapy, antibodies, and more. They are from the retinal tissue of an 18-week old aborted fetus.
Some media outlets will argue that the “original” cells were not used in the production of the vaccine. Does that really matter? It does not change the fact that the vaccine was manufactured through the use of aborted fetal cells. A child had to die in order to produce this vaccine.
The Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission has expressed concern about the way this vaccine was manufactured and the use of abortion-derived materials for it. The morality question of this has far-reaching consequences for pro-life advocates and people of faith.
Many will argue over when abortion is acceptable and when it is not. Some argue that it is acceptable in the cases of rape, incest, or in the case of concern over the mother’s health. Some will argue that the child used for the development of the vaccines was just a fetus. Take a look at this 19-week old “fetus” that Live Action shared photos of. You’ll easily tell it’s not just a fetus, but it is a human.
The question becomes, is it morally acceptable for an abortion to take place if it promoted public health? I fully expect the answer to that question to be a split decision. For the pro-life and faith community, it should not be a difficult question to answer at all.
There should never be an instance where abortion is an acceptable answer. From the time of conception, that “fetus” as the Left likes to call it, is a living human being. You can hear their heartbeat, you can see their growth, and as the photos from Live Action show, you can even count their toes.
Many celebrate the “accomplishment” of this vaccine being the only single-dose vaccine and the possibilities it brings around for public health. Is it really an accomplishment when the life of someone was taken from them without consent? Before you argue the side of organ donation let’s be real. In that situation, you willingly agree to donate your organs if the opportunity presents.
Abortion for public health reasons is not acceptable. It’s a moral issue that anyone who is pro-life and a person of faith must consider as they look at taking the Johnson and Johnson vaccine. I am not calling for a ban of Johnson and Johnson. We are not the radical left. But we can take a stand for our beliefs and refuse their vaccine that was derived through abortion.
JD Washington is the Editor-in-Chief at The Liberty Loft and host of The JD Washington Show. Be sure to subscribe to The Liberty Loft’s daily newsletter. If you enjoy our content, please consider donating to support The Liberty Loft so we can continue to deliver great content.
