IS BEING PRO-VACCINE INCOMPATIBLE WITH BEING PRO-LIFE? - #4

The previous session set out views that regard it as a matter of Christian duty to refuse the vaccine, and by implication as a sin to accept the vaccine.  

Here are my responses to their arguments: (to be continued)

1 Abortion is a wicked evil

The arguments that Piper and Brennan make for rejecting the COVID vaccines flow from a passionate commitment to opposing the evil of abortion. Despite the ravages of the COVID pandemic it is shocking and appalling that the biggest single cause of death by far in 2020 was abortion. The World Health Organisation estimates that there were 73.3 million abortions in 2020, accounting for 55% of total global deaths. It is absolutely right for Christians to fight against this immense evil, which is a violation of human rights far greater in scale than slavery or the holocaust.

However, even when Christians are agreed on the wickedness of abortion, and the desire to see this murder of babies ended, this does not mean that they have to be agreed on the ethics of the use of the COVID vaccine, nor on the best tactics by which to bring about the reduction, and ultimately end, of abortion. There is danger in making the renunciation of the COVID vaccine a touchstone of pro-life commitment, and of binding the consciences of believers by teaching them that to receive the vaccine would be a sinful disobedience of Christ. Whether this is the case ultimately depends on the exegesis and application of the key biblical passages, and it is patent that there is not unanimity on this amongst those who hold equally to the doctrine of biblical authority.

2 The development of COVID vaccines did use a cell line derived from abortion

There is no doubt that the development of the various COVID vaccines did require or involve the use of cell lines from historic abortions. However, no contemporary abortions were used and the vaccines are not manufactured from foetal tissue. The vaccine development process utilised a cell line (HEK-293) derived from an abortion performed in 1972. The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines were not directly developed using this cell-line, but it was used in the testing phase.

It ought to be noted that the ethical issues raised by the use of the foetal cells lines is nothing new. Foetal cell-lines have been used to develop other common vaccines, including against Hepatitis A and Rubella. Vaccines developed in this way are included within the MMR vaccine, which will have been received by the children of many Christians over the years. The hesitancy over MMR has concerned the discredited claims by Dr Andrew Wakefield that the vaccine led to autism in children, but there has been very little focus in the evangelical community on the use of foetal cell lines in it production. Over 90% of UK children received MMR vaccines in 2019.