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Bishop Joe S. Vásquez, of the Diocese of Austin, issued the following pastoral message to the Catholic faithful on September 8, 2020:
I wish to inform you of wonderful news in the world of vaccines. Recently the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the request of pharmaceutical provider Sanofi Pasteur to stop using the aborted fetal cell line known as MRC-5 and begin using an ethical animal cell line in producing its polio vaccines. Furthermore, Sanofi Pasteur has made the choice in its development of a vaccine for COVID-19 not to rely on cell lines linked to elective abortion. I publicly thank Sanofi Pasteur for this decision as well as the FDA for its approval.
The Pontifical Academy for Life calls on the Church to continue working to ensure that future vaccines and other medicines are not based on cooperation with practices that violate human life. The Academy holds that all people should have recourse, when possible, to alternative, morally produced vaccines, exhorting Catholics to call upon political authorities and health systems throughout the world to make vaccines that hold to the truth of the Gospel of Life available to all people. Additionally, the Church in the United States remains active in urging the FDA to ensure that a COVID-19 vaccine is produced free from complicity with abortion. This decision from Sanofi Pasteur is an encouraging sign that for-profit companies creating vaccines are beginning to recognize there is no need to use cell lines derived from aborted children.
During this unsettling time in our history, thank you for spreading this great news and for offering your own words of gratitude to Sanofi Pasteur. This is an example of the Church’s mission to support scientific advancement that upholds the dignity of the human person and the precious gift of human life.