Bush Justifies ESCR Decision With Vaccine From Abortion – Ignores Campaign

Bush Justifies ESCR with Vaccine From Abortion – Ignores Public Campaign

In February of this year as President Bush was making his decision as to whether he would allow federal funding of Embryonic Stem Cell Research (ESCR), Children of God for Life wrote to him, urging him to listen to the voices of hundreds of thousands of Americans who are opposing products derived from aborted fetal tissue.  We advised him that the use of these products flies in the face of staunch pro-lifers who refuse to let their hard earned money be spent in any way, shape or manner that would support fetal tissue research and the abortion industry.  We asked him to listen to those who had joined the Campaign for Ethical Vaccines and we sent him a copy of those comments in a large three ring binder.  Following is an excerpt from that letter:

“The fact is, alternatives do exist in Europe and Japan for these vaccines, however they are not FDA approved for use in the United States. This has placed a horrific burden on parents and medical professionals as they are slowly learning the truth about these important immunizations.  Many are refusing to vaccinate their children, rather than compromise their moral beliefs.  Certainly this is a grave concern to the health and safety of our children and the American public, but it also speaks loudly of why we must not allow this mistake to be made again.  I am enclosing a sampling of the comments we have received and I ask you to hear their voices and their anguish.  And I ask you, is it wise or fair to use taxpayer dollars to fund research that will never be able to benefit those who are suffering, when it directly violates their conscience?  Use the tax dollars for adult stem cell research and ALL people will benefit.”

Although President Bush responded to our letter, assuring us of his opposition to ESCR, apparently he chose to ignore the public campaign.  In an article written August 12th in the New York Times OP/ED section, he states, “There is a precedent. The only licensed live chickenpox vaccine used in the United States was developed, in part, from cells derived from research involving human embryos. Researchers first grew the virus in embryonic lung cells, which were later cloned and grown in two previously existing cell lines. Many ethical and religious leaders agree that even if the history of this vaccine raises ethical questions, its current use does not.”  (For the entire text of President Bush’s Letter, go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/12/opinion/12BUSH.html )

Not only is President Bush incorrect as to the actual source of the chickenpox vaccine, the fact remains that hundreds of thousands of people DO have a problem with the use of these vaccines and he knew it from the Campaign letters we sent him.  Children of God for Life was quick to respond.  The following letter was sent August 12th to the New York Times:

“As the Director of Children of God for Life, I am writing on behalf of over 425,000 supporters who would like to point out to President Bush and your readers that he is quite mistaken about his justification of Embryonic Stem Cell Research and its “precedent” to the chickenpox vaccine. Let me begin by correcting the source of this vaccine as well as the MMR and Hepatitis-A vaccines, which are not derived from “embryonic cells”. They are actually derived from and propagated on aborted fetal tissue. The chickenpox vaccine was developed using lung tissue from both a 3 month gestation female infant and a 14 week gestation male, well beyond the embryonic stage. These two “cell lines” are known to the science and medical world as MRC-5 and WI-38. In addition, the Rubella virus was isolated using yet another aborted fetus’s kidney tissue during the 1964 rubella epidemic. This victim is known as R/A/27/3 (R=Rubella, A=Abortus, 27=27th fetus tested, 3=3rd tissue explanted) and was part of a control experiment group to isolate the virus. Forget that scientists could have extracted the virus by simply swabbing the throat of an infected child as the Japanese did. Forget that scientists did not have to use fetal tissue as a culture medium and could have used animal cell lines as they do with other vaccines. Instead consider this, Mr. President: There are currently no other alternatives for these three vaccines in the United States and since this information has been brought to light in the past year, thousands and thousands of Americans are refusing them, due to their source. You believe you might be able to save lives using embryonic stem cells, which is at best, a scientific long shot. How many more lives will be lost if cures are found and people refuse treatment due to their source, just as they are now doing with these vaccines? You want the United States to be front runners in the scientific industry, but it is the scientists in foreign countries who have recognized the moral and ethical concerns by developing non-fetal alternatives for both Rubella and Hepatitis-A. You stated that “ethical and religious leaders agree that even if the history of this vaccine raises ethical questions, its current use does not.” Not quite. This statement was made only due to the fact that there are no other alternatives available for these vaccines. But we have alternatives to ESCR. And these same ethicists and religious leaders have the foresight to know we do not need to take this same destructive path again, which is why they urged you to only fund research that ALL Americans could benefit from – not just those who see nothing wrong with destroying one life for the benefit of another. On behalf of nearly half a million Americans who are petitioning the pharmaceutical industry right now demanding alternatives to these vaccines, I can assure you – ESC researchers, investors and President Bush: our tax dollars will gain a far better return from the public market on investment in adult stem cell research. We will not make the same mistake twice.”

Debra L. Vinnedge
Executive Director
Children of God for Life