For reference, to distinguish between this "fetal cell line" topic and the debate from earlier in the year, here's a pic of a 14wk old fetus: (source, Prolifeforum.org)
Posted on 11/05/2001 6:33:00 AM PST by truthandlife
SPECIAL ALERT:
New Smalllpox Vaccine May Use Aborted Fetal Cell Line, MRC-5
The Washington Post announced the award of a contract for the development of a new smallpox vaccine to Oravax/Acambis Corporation. The proposal presented to the CDC and FDA would encompass using "human fibroblasts."
We checked the proposed ingredients through the CDC and found they intend to use aborted fetal cell line MRC-5 as the cell substrate for growing the virus. The CDC report also stated that other established animal substrates such as chick embryo, (used in Rabies vaccine) Vero Cell Lines and FRHL-2 Cell lines were viable alternatives as well. Children of God for Life spoke with the FDA and they have verified the reports, but also indicated they would most likely use more than one manufacturer and no final decisions have been made. We do know that testing has already begun using MRC-5 in Phase 1 trials.
For more information from the CDC on this issue go to their website at:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol7no6/rosenthal.htm
IMMEDIATE CITIZEN ACTION NEEDED NOW!
While many debates have circulated among Catholic theologians and ethicists on whether or not it is morally permissible to use the vaccines, ALL agree that alternatives must be sought and no further products should be developed. Consider the outcome if the only vaccine we have next year is derived from aborted fetal tissue and hundreds of thousands of Americans refuse it. Please write to the people below to express your concern. Ask them to consider the moral consciences of hundreds of thousands of Americans who have already voiced their objection to the present vaccines derived from aborted fetal tissue. Many of you have written to say you will not use these vaccines...tell our government the same thing now, before the vaccine development is finalized!
LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD LOUD AND CLEAR - WE DO NOT HAVE TO TAKE THIS PATH AGAIN!! THERE ARE ALTERNATIVES! TELL OUR GOVERNMENT TO USE THEM!
Contact:
The Honorable Tommy Thompson
Department of Health & Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, S.W. Room 615-F
Washington, D.C. 20201
Email: hhsmail@os.dhhs.gov
ALSO CARBON COPY OR WRITE SEPARATELY TO THE FDA:
Dr. Kathryn Zoon, Director
CBER DIVISION - FDA
1401 Rockville Pike
Rockville, MD 20852
Email: zoon@cber.fda.gov
Please send a carbon copy of the letter through email to Children of God for Life cogforlife@aol.com, as we will be tracking the number of letters sent to prove public response! Or you may mail a copy of your letter to us at:
Children of God for Life
2130 Catalina Drive
Clearwater, Fl 33764
Vaccines From Abortion - The Hidden Truth
THE DARK HISTORY
For over thirty years pharmaceutical companies in this country have been producing vaccines derived from tissues of aborted fetuses, a fact that was brought to light when several prominent Catholic newspapers published articles on the morality of using the vaccines. The trouble began when a new law in St. Louis County, Mo. required food handlers to obtain the Hepatitis-A vaccine for employment. When the source of the vaccine was revealed, many principled individuals objected and with good reason. As this information has become public, more and more physicians and parents are troubled by the ethical issues involved.
During the Rubella epidemic of 1964, some doctors advised exposed pregnant women to abort their children. The resulting virus strain developed was known in the science world as RA/27/3, where R=Rubella, A=Abortus, 27=27th fetus tested, 3=third tissue explant. There were actually 26 abortions prior to finding the right “species” with the active virus. The vaccine was then cultivated 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 female infant at 3 months gestation in the 1960s. A second human cell line, MRC-5 was derived from a male at 14 weeks gestation in the 1970s. They were used to cultivate the weakened virus strains of several diseases to produce immunizations. These two human cell lines cultivated in the lab continue to provide an ongoing source for many widely used vaccines.
NO OTHER SOURCE
Three of the vaccines were produced solely from abortion and to date, there is no other source available to treat their diseases. The vaccines are:
· CHICKEN POX
· HEPATITIS – A
· RUBELLA
Following is the information on each vaccine, its clinical name and the pharmaceutical company producing them.
CHICKENPOX: VARIVAX/VARICELLA
Uses both MRC-5 and WI-38 human cell lines and is produced by Merck & Co.
HEPATITIS-A: “HAVRIX”, “VAQTA”
Uses MRC-5 human cell lines and is produced by SmithKline Beecham and Merck & Co.
HEPATITIS A-B: “TWINRIX”
New combo vaccine uses MRC-5 human cell lines and is produced by SmithKline Beecham (NOTE: Hepatitis-B alone is NOT “tainted.”)
RUBELLA: MERUVAX, MMR
Uses WI-38 human cell lines and is produced by Merck & Co. NOTE: MMR PROVIDES SIMULTANEOUS VACCINATION FOR MEASLES-MUMPS-RUBELLA. ANY VACCINE WHICH COMBINES WITH RUBELLA, IE, RUBELLA-MUMPS, (BIAVAX) RUBELLA-MEASLES (MR-VAX) USES THE SAME ABORTED FETAL CELLS. MERUVAX IMMUNIZES FOR RUBELLA ONLY.
OTHER “TAINTED” VACCINES
There are some vaccines that have been manufactured from these same aborted fetal cell lines, (MRC-5 and WI-38), however there are also alternative sources used in their production that do not come from abortion. Following is the information on each vaccine, its clinical name, the alternative “untainted” source and the pharmaceuticals producing them.
· MUMPS
· POLIO
· RABIES
Following is the information on each vaccine, its clinical name, the alternative “untainted” source and the pharmaceuticals producing them.
MUMPS
MUMPSVAX (UNTAINTED) Merck & Co.: Uses the cell cultures of a chicken embryo. 1-800 422-9675
MEASLES
ATTENUVAX (UNTAINTED) Merck & Co: Uses the cell cultures of a chicken embryo. 1-800 422-9675
POLIO
POLIOVAX (TAINTED) Aventis-Pasteur: Uses MRC-5 human cell line.
IPOL (UNTAINTED) Aventis-Pasteur/Connaught: Uses monkey kidney cells. 1-800-822-2463
ORIMUNE (Oral Dosage - Untainted) Aventis-Pasteur/Connaught: Uses monkey kidney cells. 1-800-822-2463
RABIES
IMOVAX (TAINTED) Aventis-Pasteur/Connaught: Uses MRC-5 human cell line.
RabAvert (UNTAINTED) Chiron Inc.: Uses chick embryo. 1-800 244-7668 (Pacific Time)
Your doctor can order the untainted versions by calling the 800 numbers listed above. They are all available in single dosage.
NOTE: SMALLPOX, DIPHTHERIA, YELLOW FEVER, HAEMOPHILUS B, HEPATITIS B, TETANUS, PNEUMONAL CONJUGATE, ANTHRAX AND INFLUENZA ARE OTHER VACCINES THAT ARE NOT DERIVED FROM ABORTED FETAL TISSUE.
Necessity of Vaccines?
There is a growing concern that many of the vaccines being forced on our children today are unnecessary because some claim that some of these diseases may have already been eradicated. For example, even prior to the introduction of the Rubella vaccine, most children (85%) had already developed a natural immunity by the sixth grade. (Rubella in Children,/Pediatrics, 65, 1980). Thus some would have us forgo vaccines such as Rubella, especially since Rubella is basically a harmless childhood disease. Nonetheless, although it is not dangerous for children, Rubella can seriously affect pre-born infants during the first trimester of pregnancy if the mother is exposed and actually passes the virus on to her child. If this should occur then an estimated 20-25% will develop some form of Congenital Rubella Syndrome (New England Journal of Medicine, 1976), which may cause growth retardation, malformations of the heart, eyes, or brain, deafness, and liver, spleen, and bone marrow problems. Is it worth such a risk to refuse this vaccine when the welfare of our children could be at stake? As adults, we can refuse such vaccinations but our children cannot make such decisions for themselves. It is our responsibility to amend the present culture of death, which sees nothing wrong with the taking of one human life for the benefit of another, or - profiting from it. There is no escaping the fact that vaccines will be necessary for many years to come.
Moral Problems
Many ethicists have tried to justify the use of vaccines derived from aborted fetal tissue when there are no alternatives available. They make a legitimate argument that we have a moral obligation to protect our children and society from life threatening diseases. Those opposed to abortion, find the use of vaccines made from the tissues of aborted fetuses morally objectionable. The aborted fetus has already had his or her human dignity severely violated. Using an aborted fetus’ tissues amounts to further violation of the dignity of the unborn person. Some think using such vaccines constitutes complicity in the evil of abortion; others argue that it is morally permissible to use vaccines made from aborted fetal tissue if untainted vaccines are unavailable. Still others argue that there is no moral problem with using these vaccines at all. They reason, “well, the abortions were performed over 30 years ago, so what's the big deal?"
In our culture, unfortunately it is a big deal, because researchers are still exploiting aborted fetuses and are even lobbying to create embryos strictly for the purposes of research. In fact those who would harvest tissue from aborted fetuses use the existence of vaccines from aborted fetuses to justify their proposals. At the Senate subcommittee hearings held April 26, 2000 on Embryonic Stem Cell Research, Senator Harry Reid compared the use of future products taken from deliberately destroyed human embryos to that of the Polio vaccine. And the University of Nebraska used the same argument in defending its’ experiments on fetal tissue “donated” from abortion facilities.
If thirty years down the road we have a new vaccine for the AIDS virus and it is derived from fetal tissue or destroyed human embryos what protest could be legitimately argued? If we accept the status quo now, then it is certain that scientists and pharmaceutical companies will pursue an avenue of research they perceive to be perfectly acceptable to the public.
Unless all our actions show respect for human life, we will be less able to oppose the actions of those who discount the inviolable dignity of embryonic and fetal life. The most important fact is that vaccines can be made from sources other than tissues from aborted fetuses. We have the right to demand that our pharmaceutical companies provide us with alternatives for these vaccines. And we have a moral responsibility to promote, request and use those vaccines that do offer alternatives. The “complicity” then should not be a question as to whether we use these vaccines, but rather, that we do nothing about them.
Derived from normal lung tissue of a 14-week-old male fetus by J. P. Jacobs in September 1966 (Nature 227: 168-170, 1970), the MRC-5 cell line was established in a growth medium consisting of Earle's Basal Medium in Earle's balanced salt solution supplemented with 10% calf serum. Following initial cultivation, subcultures were prepared twice weekly at a 1:2 ratio. When the cells reached approximately the 7th population doubling, the majority of the cultures were harvested to prepare a frozen cell stock. Subsequent observations revealed that the MRC-5 cells are capable of attaining 42-46 population doublings before onset of the decline in proliferation usually experienced with human fibroblast lines. The MRC-5 cell strain (like the WI-38 cell line) is susceptible to a wide range of human viruses.
From ViroMed Laboratories
Your FR link about MRC-5 is bad/broken.
The most credible information about abortion origin of MRC-5 cells is here in the "South Dakota Journal of Medicine" (May 2000):
Fallacy: Aborted fetuses are routinely used to manufacture Varivax(r).
Facts: Human diploid fibroblast cell lines are used to produce several different vaccines. Human diploid cells are immature cells that can be grown indefinitely and readily support viral growth. Currently, there are two human diploid cell lines in use, WI-38 and MRC-5. Both of these cell lines were developed from lung tissue of two therapeutically aborted fetuses in 1961 and 1966. The medical reasons for the abortions were independent decisions unrelated to the production of the human diploid fibroblast cells or vaccines. All human diploid cells used in the past and today for vaccine production come from the WI-38 and MRC-5 cell lines.14 Dr. Takahashi and colleagues developed the Oka master seed virus and from this the various varicella vaccines are produced.10,15
For reference, to distinguish between this "fetal cell line" topic and the debate from earlier in the year, here's a pic of a 14wk old fetus: (source, Prolifeforum.org)
I am a strongly pro-life Catholic. I agree that fetal cell culture lines should not be used to develop vaccines.
HOWEVER, if there were a real threat of smallpox and the only vaccine available to me was one based on such a cell line, it would be gravely sinful not to take it. Because smallpox is contagious, by not taking the vaccine I would be risking not only my own life but the lives of innocent people I might infect. That's morally indefensible. (Note that the production of the vaccine does not cause a single abortion or take a single human life. The baby from whom this cell line came died a long time ago, and my taking the vaccine is, at worse, remote material cooperation with evil.) IMO, of course.
I don't claim to be the final word on what is or is not "morally indefensible", but I do strongly claim that you are'nt qualifed either. IMO, of course ;)
A couple of points:
1. We can eat the flesh from corpses to stop from starving, but that is generally frowned upon. Likewise, it should not suprise anyone that some of us prefer not to consume products derived from aborted babies.
2. Not taking a vaccine cultured from cells derived from fetal cell lines in the situation you describe above may be rationalized as you have done, but it can hardly be declared "morally indefensible" when alternatives currently exist that can be used to manufacture "non-fetal" derived vaccines. If government and the medical industry chooses only fetal cell lines, a strong argument can be made that THIS is the choice that is "morally indefensible."
Again, you do not present a strong moral argument for taking vaccines derived from fetal cell lines, but you do one heckuva job of rationalizing a way to save your own skin...
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