Compulsory Vaccinations Threaten Religious Freedom

Liberty Counsel ^ | September 2001 | Mathew D. Staver

[Coleus]

  September 2001

COMPULSORY VACCINATIONS THREATEN RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

by Mathew D. Staver

Most people associate vaccinations with the eradication of disease. Vaccinations have been a part of American life for decades. However, many people object to mandatory vaccinations for religious reasons. Oftentimes, these individuals are told that they have no choice and must receive the vaccinations.

You may be surprised to learn that some vaccinations are derived from aborted fetal tissue. Vaccines for chicken pox, Hepatitis-A and Rubella were produced solely from aborted fetal tissue. Even most physicians who oppose abortion do not realize that these three vaccines are made from aborted fetal tissue. Recently, the wife of one of our Liberty Counsel attorneys confronted her family doctor who wanted to inject her son with the chicken pox vaccine. When she told her doctor, who is Catholic, that the chicken pox vaccine contains aborted fetal tissue, he was surprised. The doctor was even more surprised when he skimmed through his medical book and found out she was right. He then proclaimed that he was faced with a dilemma which he must now confront.

In St. Louis County, Missouri, a county law required food handlers to obtain the Hepatitis-A vaccine for employment. Several prominent Catholic newspapers published articles on the morality of using the vaccine, and pointed out that the source of the vaccine was derived from abortion. After the information became public, more and more physicians and parents have become deeply troubled by the ethical issues involved in the Hepatitis-A vaccine.

During the Rubella epidemic of 1964, some doctors advised pregnant women who were exposed to the disease to abort their children. The resulting virus strain became known in the science world as RA/27/3. R stands for Rubella, A stands for Abortus, 27 stands for the 27^th fetus tested, and 3 stands for the 3^rd tissue explant. In other words, there were 26 abortions prior to finding the right "species" with the active virus. The Rubella vaccine was then cultivated from the 27^th aborted baby on the lung tissue of yet another aborted infant, WI-38. WI-38 (Wistar Institute 38) was taken from the lung tissue of an aborted baby at 3 months gestation in the 1960s. A second human cell line known as MRC-5 was derived from a male at 14 weeks gestation in the 1970s. These two aborted cell lines have been used to provide an ongoing source for many widely-used vaccines, including Hepatitis-A and chicken pox.

The chicken pox vaccine is known as Varivax. This vaccine was developed with the use of aborted fetuses. It uses both the human cell lines, known as WI-38 and MRC-5. The chicken pox vaccine also contains MSG (monosodium glutamate). According to the Food and Drug Administration, MSG is not advised for use in infants, children, or pregnant women or children of child-bearing age, and people with affective (mental/emotional) disorders. Dr. A. Lavin of the Department of Pediatrics at St. Luke's Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio, strongly opposes the chicken pox vaccine.

Studies show that up to 3% of chicken pox vaccine recipients actually contract chicken pox from the vaccine, and some chicken pox cases may be contracted from recently vaccinated children. Some studies suggest that chicken pox in a vaccinated child may be milder than in an unvaccinated child. However, some experts also believe that this may be due to the vaccine suppressing the illness, which can actually signal a more serious underlying chronic condition. "Atypical measles" is a disease that occurs only in people previously vaccinated for measles, and it is far more serious than regular measles. It is yet unknown if "atypical chicken pox" cases will appear as a result of the use of Varivax.

The FDA has stated that there are fewer than 10% of serious adverse reactions and deaths following vaccines. The federal government actually pays families of vaccine-killed or disabled children nearly $100 million dollars each year, and has done so since 1986 through the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.

There are other vaccines that are derived from aborted fetuses for which there are alternatives. For example, an alternative to the Polio vaccine is a vaccine known by the name IPOL, which is not derived from aborted tissue. The alternative for Mumps is Mumpsvax, for rabies is RabAvert and for measles is Attenuvax. The vaccines under these names are produced either from monkey kidney cells or chicken embryos. There are also vaccine alternatives available in the United Kingdom, but which are not available in the United States because they are not FDA approved. The Rubella vaccine available in the United Kingdom known as Takahashi Strain and the Hepatitis-A vaccine with the brand name of Aimmugen are derived from rabbit and monkey kidney tissue respectively. However, these are not available in the United States.

In addition to the problem of some vaccines derived from aborted tissue, there is a larger problem with mandatory vaccines. Many people have a sincerely-held religious belief regarding vaccines in general. These individuals believe that God created the human body as a temple, and that the body should not be destroyed by injecting a virus into the body. Take for example Joseph and Heyde Rotella and Maja Leibovitz in New York City. Both families have a sincerely-held religious belief against vaccinations. At the time, the Rotellas had a seventh-grade daughter and Ms. Leibovitz had a second-grade daughter. The school system required that these children receive a mandatory Hepatitis-B vaccination. Hepatitis-B can only be transmitted in one of three ways. Either you are born to a mother with Hepatitis-B, or you contract it by drug use through the sharing of needles, or you contract it through sexual contact. Injecting their children with Hepatitis-B is like the state forcing the parents to give their children clean needles or condoms.

In both cases, the children were expelled from school, and in one case, Child Protective Services was called to the scene because the child was not in school. After several weeks of expulsion and threats of removing the children, Liberty Counsel filed a federal lawsuit. A court order allowed the children back in school and prohibited the school from overriding the parents' religious belief.

Liberty Counsel has also filed a federal lawsuit against the state of Arkansas. There the state requires mandatory vaccinations. Our clients have sincerely-held religious beliefs opposing these mandatory vaccinations, including the chicken pox vaccination. One of our clients has actually received a letter from the Vatican stating that the Church opposes abortion and it would be a sin for the parent to allow her child to be injected with aborted fetal tissue. Despite the strong evidence of a religious belief which opposes the chicken pox vaccination, the state of Arkansas insists that the parent vaccinate her child. Our federal lawsuit challenges the state's law on religious freedom grounds.

Vaccinations are becoming a wave of the future. Large pharmaceutical companies are lobbying state legislators to require mandatory vaccinations of all school-aged children. Some people have sincerely-held religious beliefs against vaccines in general, while others have objections to certain vaccines because of their aborted fetal contents. Either way, the state cannot steamroll a person's religious belief. In many cases, the government cannot even legitimately argue a compelling reason for the vaccines. Chicken pox is not life-threatening, and Hepatitis-B is primarily contracted through drug use and sexual contact. Moreover, Hepatitis-B, according to the Center for Disease Control, has several serious side effects, including Multiple Sclerosis.

Next time you are confronted with mandatory vaccines, take a moment to reexamine your religious beliefs and become educated about the contents, the purpose, and the risk of vaccinations.

U.S. Vaccines Derived From Abortion

Disease	Vaccine Name	Manufacturer	Cell line (Fetal)
Polio	Poliovax	Aventis-Pasteur	MRC-5
Measles, Mumps, Rubella Rubella only	MMR II Biavax II Meruvax II	Merck & Company	WI-38
Rabies	Imovax	Aventis-Pasteur	MRC-5
Hepatitis-A	Havrix Vaqta	SmithKline-Beecham Merck & Company	MRC-5 MRC-5
Chicken pox	Varivax	Merck & Company	WI-38 and MRC-5

 

U.S. Vaccine Alternatives

No alternatives for Chickenpox, Rubella or Hepatitis-A in U.S.

Disease	Vaccine Name	Manufacturer	Cell line
Polio	IPOL 800-822-2463	Aventis-Pasteur	Monkey kidney cells
Mumps	Mumpsvax 800-422-9675	Merck & Company	Chick embryo
Rabies	RabAvert 800-244-7668	Chiron Therapeutics	Chick embryo
Measles	Attenuvax 800-422-9675	Merck & Company	Chick embryo

[Sun]

This is horrendous, and why do they use aborted fetal tissue anyway?

[svcw]

It is not that I do not believe this information but is there anyway to verify the claim.
I just found out that birth control pills not only stop ovulation but if fertilization does occur the pills prevent the fertilized egg from implanting. I was sick when I found this out. Boy, do we need to be careful.

[jess35]

If you don't want to take the vaccines for religious reasons, I don't have a single problem with that. Just don't demand employment, etc.... if the vaccine is a condition imposed by the employer. Freedom is a two way streeet.

[justche]

If company's can't discriminate based on risky sexual behavior; cross dressing freaks; etc -why should they be able to discriminate based on sincerely held religious beliefs?

And why is this in Personal and Bloggers?

[the OlLine Rebel]

"if fertilization does occur the pills prevent the fertilized egg from implanting."


Huh? Unbelievable. If that was the case, then BC pills would be "100% fool-proof" for getting pregnant, per se, not just 99%.

[the OlLine Rebel]

What does accepting that a company won't hire you BECAUSE YOU REFUSE TO GET A VACCINE have to do w/discriminating because of religion?

[PeteB570]

I have no problem with people who refuse to get shots because of whatever reason.

I do have a problem with people who refuse to get required vaccinations and then walk around just waiting to become the next "Typhoid Mary".

[svcw]

I know.
What the doctor told me was that the pill was to prevent ovulation but if the egg is fertilized that it was very unlikely that the the fertilize egg would implant.
I was so shocked. My doctor at that time was pro life and told all her patience this information so they could decide for themselves what to do. She said many people did not think it was such a big deal because it was so early and rare.
I actual got pregnant while taking the pill. I grieve to this day and was sickened that there may have been other times that I was pregnant and that the fertilize egg did not implant.
When I found this out I stopped that day taking the pill.

[the OlLine Rebel]

You don't know that you were otherwise pregnant. It's probably a rare chance you'd even be fertilized, much less it not implant. You probably got fertilized + implanted once. The odds are against the other.

[the OlLine Rebel]

That is why they're "required" - to prevent disastrous spreads of contagious diseases. So in a way, those people's rights have infringed on others'.

[jess35]

Sincerely held religious beliefs don't trump the rights of someone else.

[justche]

What right are you speaking about trumping?

[justche]

It appears you're just knocking down any one else's opinion - if it's a sincerely asked question, I'd be happy to discuss that one's belief that abortion is murder, is in fact a sincerely held religious belief. Telling an employee they have to be injected with such material, when there is no proof that it gives immunity, in fact there's much documented proof that it's at best limited if any prevention of diseases is outrageous. A company doesn't have the right to tell you to override that. Take that further - there's a finite amount of influence your company can have on your personal life. Now, if you're just trying to out yell, take care.

[jess35]

Do you have a "right" to work for that employer? Does your "right" override your employers right to set conditions of employment? Do they work for YOU or do you work for them?

[justche]

My rights don't stop at the door of an employer. They pay me to do a job - they don't pay me to run my life - or influence my medical decisions.

[jess35]

Are you under the impression you have a right to a job regardless of any conditions set by your employer?

[Petronski]

...if fertilization does occur the pills prevent the fertilized egg from implanting. I was sick when I found this out.

We're not supposed to know.

[Petronski]

What does accepting that a company won't hire you BECAUSE YOU REFUSE TO GET A VACCINE have to do w/discriminating because of religion?

Is this vaccine required by the employer, or required by law? I trust you can see the implications of the latter.