Response to the Covid Vaccines
I had heard some talk previously about the use of fetal tissues in the production of the Vaccines but was not “educated” enough on this to comment publicly. I decided to look into it to see if I could resolve this issue in my own mind. What I found is sufficient for me to refuse the current vaccines on grounds of ethical “spiritual” concerns.
First of all, it is my belief that all abortion is wrong. If you do not agree then just ignore this study. It follows that any experimentation with any fetal tissue from an abortion is also wrong and immoral. Any results that come from that kind of experimentation that could save the world from sickness is also wrong.
Second, death is not the end. If someone contracts a disease that causes death, they have followed natural laws of life and death. The real question is what happens after death. If you die what happens next? My belief is that if you have accepted the redemption that comes from Jesus’ death and accepted Jesus as your personal Saviour you will have eternal life. You will continue to live forever with God. If you have not believed that Jesus died for your sins on the cross, you will face God’s judgement, which according to the Bible means that you will be eternally separated from God and you will join Satan and his angels in their punishment.
Third, I personally believe that if I participate in something which is unethical, I am supporting it and agreeing that it is acceptable.
Fourth, we can participate in something which is unethical and be forgiven but we will experience the consequences of that sin. (In this case possible side effects including for some death.)
What is the stand of Christianity when it comes to using fetal tissue in the production of experimental drugs? Are we as a people being complacent about using aborted baby parts in the development of modern medicines and scientific experimentation? It is possible that when people are informed that their attitudes might change to recognize that it is wrong to use aborted baby parts to experiment on as these baby parts are usually supplied by the abortion industry. I believe that God will hold us accountable. Just because we sin in ignorance (we have not learned that something is wrong according to the Bible) does not take away the gravity of the sin.
In an article found online from Newsweek (March 13, 2021) the Roman Catholic position on the vaccines is explained.
COVID-19 Vaccines and Fetal Tissue: The Science and Controversy Explained
BY FRED GUTERL ON 3/13/21 AT 6:00 AM EST
https://www.newsweek.com/covid-19-vaccines-fetal-tissue-science-controversy-explained-1575863
“In 1972, Alex van der Eb, a molecular biologist, took cells from an aborted human embryo and cultured them in his lab in Leiden University in the Netherlands. The cells have since become "immortal," meaning the descendants of the original cells have played a role in the research of numerous vaccines, including rubella, adenovirus, polio, rabies, chickenpox, Ebola and, most recently, several of the most widely used coronavirus vaccines.
“However, in early March, Catholic Bishops in the U.S. muddied the waters by calling out the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as having "additional moral concerns." At issue is the precise role fetal-cell lines played in the development of the vaccine. While Moderna and Pfizer used them in testing only, J&J also used them in the production of its vaccine. "If one has the ability to choose a vaccine," the bishops said, "Pfizer or Moderna's vaccines should be chosen over Johnson & Johnson's."
“The Bishops' moral concern arises from the relative proximity of the J&J vaccine to the "evil" of abortion.
“Fetal-cell lines played a vital role in the development of all three vaccines. Moderna and Pfizer used Van der Eb's original cell line, called HEK 293, in the testing of their coronavirus vaccines—that is, scientists first developed the vaccines using their mRNA technologies and subsequently tested them on lab-cultured HEK 293 cells, ancestors of the original cells that Van der Eb took from an embryo almost 50 years ago. Johnson & Johnson used a different fetal-cell line, called PER.C6, that was cultured in Van der Eb's lab in 1995.
“While Moderna and Pfizer used fetal cells for testing their vaccine after it was already produced, J&J used fetal cells as tiny "factories" that produced the active ingredient in its vaccine. It was inside PER.C6 cells where a gene for the coronavirus' spike protein was attached to a modified adenovirus. (The vaccine works when the adenovirus infects human cells and the added gene instructs the cells to manufacture the spike protein, which elicits an immune response.)”
Although the fetal parts used in much of the current vaccine development and testing (Covid and other vaccines) are not from current abortions, aborted fetal tissue was used to create the original lab media used in testing and development of the current Covid vaccines. The issue is that aborted baby parts were / are used in the development and / or testing. How old the fetal media is (1972 or 1995) or if the media is not directly used, has no bearing on whether it is unethical or immortal. ANY experiments using aborted fetal tissue is immoral. Umbilical cords and other ways of harvesting stem cells can be ethical sources of stem cells used in therapies. Using cells with DNA from one person to another is another ethical issue which I will not address.
What is the source of the fetal tissue used in some vaccine development and testing?
https://www.msn.com/en-ph/news/opinion/another-astrazeneca-headache-fetal-cells-from-aborted-babies-used-in-vaccine-development/ar-BB1buY1F.
Several Covid-19 vaccine frontrunners, including those being developed by Moderna, Oxford University/AstraZeneca, CanSino Biologics/Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, and Inovio Pharmaceuticals, are using a human fetal kidney cell line called HEK-293 to develop their trial
vaccines. HEK-293 was originally derived from kidney tissue taken from a baby girl who was aborted in the Netherlands in 1972 and later developed into a cell line in a lab in 1973.
Additionally, Janssen, the pharmaceutical division of consumer product giant Johnson & Johnson, is using the human fetal cell line PER.C6 to develop its 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.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-28/oxford-coronavirus-vaccine-ethical-religious-foetal-cell/12592800
The Oxford vaccine uses HEK (human embryonic kidney) 293 cell lines, obtained from a female fetus in the Netherlands in 1973.
HEK293
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lex_van_der_Eb
“In 1972 van der Eb obtained and managed to culture embryonic kidney cells from a legally aborted fetus. “
Abortion was not legalized in Holland until 1984. In the US Roe v Wade occurred in 1973. Thus the information about the fetal organ being legally obtained should be in question. This medium has self-generated (multiplied spontaneously) as living cells since that time and has been used for many experiments. Even if it was “legally” obtained how do we ethically understand the use of aborted fetal tissue for experimentation? I believe it is WRONG.
https://dunyanews.tv/en/FakeNews/577835-Misleading-claim-online-AstraZeneca-Covid-19-vaccine
“HEK-293 was originally cultivated from an aborted fetus in the Netherlands in 1973. The cell line’s cultivator, Alex van der Eb, testified in a 2001 US FDA hearing, the reason for the abortion that the HEK-293 cells were originally cultivated from is unknown.” (My comment: The writer is admitting that the cells were from an abortion. In fact, the number 293 was given because it was the 293rd attempt to create experimental media using aborted fetal tissue. And we morn over 215 children (and we should) but gladly take a vaccine from aborted tissues.)
“HEK-293 is a cell line that has been replicated in a lab in order to cultivate the active ingredient (weakened virus) during the development and testing of vaccines.
“The cells “are clones of those original cells, but are not themselves the cells of aborted babies,” the Oxford Vaccine Group spokesperson told AFP in an email.” (My comment: does it matter if the cells are clones of aborted babies or the real thing? The babies had to be aborted so that the clones could be manufactured.)
This article states, “It is misleading to claim that human material ‘definitely’ ends up in the vaccines that use cell lines cultivated from fetuses, the Oxford Vaccine Centre explains.”
“After they [weakened virus/active ingredients] are grown [in the cells], the viruses are purified several times to remove the cell culture material. This makes it unlikely that any human material remains in the final vaccine,” the website states.
(My Comment: the term ‘unlikely’ is misleading. The author states that the viruses are purified several times. The purification process does not necessarily remove all fetal tissue. The author indicates that he / she cannot be absolutely sure that all fetal tissue is removed and reading other places, researchers have found fetal tissue in “cleansed” cultures.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_of_fetal_tissue_in_vaccine_development
“Although the vaccines are purified from cell debris, traces of human DNA fragments inevitably remain.” [italics mine] Thus to say that definitely there is no human material in the vaccines is misleading and inaccurate.
https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/why-are-some-christians-so-worried-about-a-covid-vaccine/
“The “ethical” argument “You might be just saying, ‘Well, I don’t want to have the vaccine and I’m prepared to get sick and die’ – perhaps of COVID – but you’ve got to consider that you also would be putting other people at risk,” she says. “You might, in fact, end up being responsible for several people’s deaths. So, if you say that sanctity of life is important to you, well, then, that would be a strong counter-argument.”
This argument is like saying, “You should not drive a car because “There are nearly 40,000 fatal car accidents per year in the U.S. Each day, more than 90 Americans die in car accidents. On average, 2 million drivers experience a permanent injury every year. Almost 8,000 people are killed in traffic accidents involving drivers aged 16-20. (Many more teens than have died of auto accidents per year than covid.) (https://caradvice.askpatty.com/ask_patty_/2019/05/car-accident-statistics-in-the-us-2019-infographic.html )
The end never justifies the means. We may save a few people from dying if we all get the vaccine. (Deaths attributed to Covid 25,914, Canadian population 38,054,099 Death rate is .068% of the Canadian population.) We save no one who is going to hell unless we get the message of the gospel to them before they die. Prolonging someone’ s life is not heroic if their end remains the same. The sad part is when we as the church do not save the lost and dying before they go to a Christless eternity.
There are other vaccines that have not been rushed to market that are being ethically sourced and do not use the mRNA spike protein but these companies do not receive publicity.
We need to remember that the death rate from those reported to have the Covid disease is still less than 2% in Canada. I would venture to say that it is significantly less than that because I personally know of about 10 people in my acquaintances that were sick with the symptoms reported for Covid who did not report it to authorities but handled recovery responsibly. My wife and I got sick at a time when they said that if you are experiencing symptoms, don’t come in but just isolate. (Which we did for 2 weeks while we were recovering but were never tested for covid at that time. We have had two subsequent PCR tests being negative.)
Dying with the disease and dying because of the disease are two different things and when there is monetary incentive to lie, guess which one gets put on the death certificate. My daughter-in-law’s father died after having covid and was on a ventilator and the hospital wanted to put down that he died of covid but my daughter-in-law refused to sign that was true because he died of a heart attack and was covid negative at the time of death.
One point that I don’t understand is how, if you have received a vaccine by choice, and I by choice have not, how can I give you a disease if your vaccine is efficacious. Maybe if truth be told, the bubble would break and deception would be revealed. (Like the lies about tabaco and cancer.)
Johnson and Johnson’s use of fetal tissue PER.c6
https://www.wsj.com/articles/johnson-johnson-pauses-covid-19-vaccine-trials-due-to-sick-subject-11602555101
“Further, this [Janssen's] particular vaccine from J&J utilizes the human fetal cell line PER.C6 for its development. 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 was later converted into a fetal cell line in 1995.
“Dr. Alex van der Eb, who developed the PER. C6 cell line, told FDA hearings in 2001 that the cell line was developed from retinal tissue from an 18 week old preborn [aborted, explanation mine] baby.
“I isolated retina from a fetus, from a healthy fetus as far as could be seen, of 18 weeks old. There was nothing special with a family history or the pregnancy was completely normal up to the 18 weeks, and it turned out to be a socially indicated abortus – abortus provocatus, and that was simply because the woman wanted to get rid of the fetus...what was written down was unknown father, and that was, in fact, the reason why the abortion was requested.”
https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-johnson-aborted-idUSL1N2LU1T9
“Johnson & Johnson used a human fetal cell line called PER.C6, developed from the retinal cells of an 18-week-old fetus aborted in 1985 in its production and manufacturing stages.”
“The contents of the vaccine or [sic are] filtered in a way that removes extraneous material prior to packaging.”
These companies are going to great lengths to try to distance themselves from the fact that they are using extractions from fetal tissues to develop and produce their products. When and how they use the aborted fetal tissue are not the question, the fact that they are using this “aborted fetal product” IS the ethical issue. Whether it is justified to use these products to “save lives and change DNA” is the real question.
PCR testing - This test affects how many people are said to have confirmed cases of the virus. The original creator of the PCR test says that this is NOT proper use of the test nor by itself an accurate indication of the presence of Covid-19. Many of the asymptomatic positive tests indicate a possible presence of the virus but have been shown to be false positives. One lab re-test of previous declared positive cases showed a 49% failure of the PCR test to be accurate. Identifying a presence of a virus DNA strand and actual sickness from that strand are two different things. (Like declaring someone died of covid or someone die with covid.)
Initially I did not believe that I needed to have a vaccine because I had already built up antibodies in my system and there were questions about the vaccines having side effects, I did not need side effects to help keep others safe. I was already as safe as anyone who had a vaccine. Now after research I am not willing at this time to have a vaccine shot based on the immoral use of aborted fetal tissue in the development and testing of the currently available vaccines.
Sincerely in Christ
Phil Hamm