IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING CONFESSION

 

THE COVID-19 VACCINE AND ABORTION

CAN CATHOLICS RECEIVE IT IN GOOD CONSCIENCE?  CAN THEY CLAIM A RELIGIOUS WAIVER?

 

            On December 21, 2020 the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), with the approval of Pope Francis, issued A Note on the Morality of Using some Anti-Covid-19 Vaccines, which you can find on line through the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ website at https://www.usccb.org/prolife/vaccines-and-biomedical-research.  It states that “It is morally acceptable to receive Covid-19 vaccines that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research and production process.”  This is because the persons who receive the vaccine are not in any way responsible for the abortion from which the cell lines came.  Nor does their reception of the vaccine signify approval of that abortion.      

            Abortion is a grave moral evil and legitimate medical research and treatment will abhor it.  No Catholic may directly participate in procuring an abortion since it is a sin against the Fifth Commandment.  Direct cooperation in a gravely immoral act is never acceptable.  However, in one way or another all people are implicated in remote, or indirect, cooperation in all sorts of evil.  For example, you pay taxes.  The government provides funding for abortion.  As a taxpayer, you are remotely responsible for abortions paid by the government.  However, your cooperation as a taxpayer is so remote that there is no culpability on your part.  The same can be said of any immoral policies of the government, with the stipulation that one does not actively support the policy.  Moreover, a conscientious Catholic will do what he or she can to change the government’s policy, by voting, making one’s opinion known to officials, etc. 

            In the case of the Covid-19 vaccines, the cell lines from which they come were drawn from an abortion which occurred years before.  According to the CDF, there is a grave reason to get the vaccine – to protect oneself and others from a potentially deadly virus – and apparently there are no good alternatives.  The bishops of the United States echo the CDF in stating that it could be considered as an act of charity to get vaccinated since it will help to contain the spread of the virus, which is dangerous to people with certain compromising health conditions.  The CDF affirms that “The moral duty to avoid such passive material cooperation is not obligatory if there is a grave danger, such as the otherwise uncontainable spread of a serious pathological agent…” 

            Most medical experts recommend that people who are eligible should receive one of the currently available Covid-19 vaccines.  Their recommendation, of itself, does not make it morally obligatory.  The CDF states that “practical reason makes evident that vaccination is not, as a rule, a moral obligation and that, therefore, it must be voluntary.”  Non-ordinary means of medical treatment are never morally obligatory.  It would be a violation of human rights, and therefore immoral, for the government to require citizens to be vaccinated against their will.  The issue is not as clear-cut, however, when employers mandate the vaccine as a condition for employment, or a school system mandates it as a condition for a student to attend classes in-person.  Good moral theologians can reach different judgments.  The reason for the distinction between government and employer or school administrator is that a person cannot choose not to be a citizen, but, in theory, a person can choose not to be an employee, or a student, in a particular place.  In this debate, however, I believe that the burden of proof is on those who want to impose the vaccination since people have a natural right to make decisions, without coercion, about their own health care.      

            Many institutions which impose a mandate allow for exemptions, including a religious exemption.  Church leaders cannot provide a letter of exemption because the Church has ruled that the vaccine may be received in good faith.  Nevertheless, there is nothing to prevent Catholics from claiming for themselves an exemption based on their own consciences, which are largely inspired by their religious convictions.  The National Catholic Bioethics Center provides excellent resources on its website about Covid-19, including guidance for those who feel they need to claim an exemption, including a template letter (www.ncbcenter.org).  A fundamental teaching of the Church on morality is that a person cannot contradict his or her properly formed conscience.  For some, this would apply to a decision not to receive the vaccine.  I believe that conscience rights should be protected in law and respected by everyone.