INDIANAPOLIS — The Archdiocese of Indianapolis is following guidance from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in urging Catholics if they have an option to not take the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.
The reason for the guidance, according to the statement, is reporting that aborted fetus cells are involved in the production of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
"The approval of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine for use in the United States again raises questions about the moral permissibility of using vaccines developed, tested, and/or produced with the help of abortion-derived cell lines," the statement from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops said. "Pfizer and Moderna's vaccines raised concerns because an abortion-derived cell line was used for testing them, but not in their production. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine, however, was developed, tested and is produced with abortion-derived cell lines raising additional moral concerns."
The statement said that if a person can choose among equally safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines, the vaccine with the least connection to abortion-derived cell lines should be chosen. The statement did say, however, that if other vaccines are not available, it is morally acceptable to receive vaccines that have used cell lines from abortion fetuses in their research and production process.
