Dear Parishioners,
Many people are refusing to be vaccinated against Covid-19 because they think that by doing so they will be supporting abortion. This is something we should all be concerned with since, according to the Catechism, “Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense.” (CCC 2272) One way of supporting abortion is by utilizing embryonic stem cell research, which uses stem cells harvested from aborted fetuses. So, taken on a surface level, refusing to be vaccinated on moral grounds seems very justifiable. However, the Catholic Church has not come to this conclusion and I would like to take time in this article to explain why.
According to the USSCB, “The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has judged that ‘when ethically irreproachable Covid-19 vaccines are not available … it is morally acceptable to receive Covid-19 vaccines that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research and production process.’… While we should continue to insist that pharmaceutical companies stop using abortion-derived cell lines, given the world-wide suffering that this pandemic is causing, we affirm again that being vaccinated can be an act of charity that serves the common good.” (https://www.usccb.org/ news/2021/us-bishop-chairmen-doctrine-and-pro-lifeaddress-use-johnson-johnson-covid-19-vaccine)
The distinction that the USCCB is making is one between formal and material cooperation with evil. Formal cooperation is when you directly aid someone with the intention of them doing an evil. This type of cooperation is always sinful. Material cooperation is doing a neutral or even good act that has a side effect of aiding an evil act. If this act is necessary for the evil to occur, it is still sinful. If it is unnecessary for the evil to occur (and the evil act of using embryonic stem cells was made long before researchers used them to develop vaccines for the pandemic), then it may be permissible under the following circumstances. First, the act of cooperation is not sinful. Second, that there is reason to tolerate the sinful outcome. Third, the act avoids scandal by protest or explanation. (see https://www.ewtn.com/vote/moralcooperation-in-evil.asp)
So, how does using a vaccine derived from embryonic stem cell research hold up to this criteria? The first criteria holds because the intention of being vaccinated is to prevent yourself and others from catching a serious disease that has caused much death and injury. So, the intention is not to support abortion or to use embryonic stem cell research. The second criteria holds because the Church has judged that the pandemic is grave enough to justify using this research. We unfortunately live in a world where good options are not available and more harm is caused by letting this disease run its course. The third criteria holds because the Church has made clear over and over again that she opposes embryonic stem cell research and if a better vaccine that does not use embryonic stem cell research is developed, we are morally obligated to choose that one.
Lastly, just to be clear, the Church is against any mandate that forces people to receive any medical treatment that they deem unethical. We can never violate someone’s conscience (though everyone has a responsibility to form their conscience). People may even have reasons not to take the vaccine that have nothing to do with conscience such as not trusting new medicine. However, please take the information I have provided in this article to heart as you form your own conscience.
God bless!
Fr. Carter