Catholic leaders in the US have welcomed the news that one of the world’s biggest vaccine producers has decided to discontinue a polio vaccine derived from an abortion foetal cell line.
Sanofi-Pasteur will instead use an ethical animal cell line in the production of its polio vaccine. The company, among the three largest vaccine manufacturers globally, has also committed to developing a Covid-19 vaccine that does not use a cell line from an elective abortion.
A 2005 document from the Pontifical Academy for Life concluded that it is both morally permissible and morally responsible for Catholics to use vaccines prepared in cell lines descended from aborted foetuses if no alternative is available.
However, the document said Catholics have an obligation to use ethically-sourced vaccines when possible, and when alternatives do not exist, they have an obligation to speak up and request the development of new cell lines that are not derived from aborted foetuses