Yesterday, I received the following message in my inbox as part of an ongoing conversation I have had with a reader, and I thought I would share the e-mail and some brief comments about it, as I perceive that it will take a series of messages to address the subject in the manner it deserves.  Some time ago, I received a message from this reader after she had read my blog on Abel’s righteous blood crying out, and she wondered if this passage had a broader application.  Given the course the conversation has gone, I think it is fair to say that the application of Abel’s righteous blood as well as the sin of abortion [1] is far wider one than I had thought, and in that light I think it will be worth a considerable amount of writing to sort out some of its complications.  But first, the e-mail:

“Nathan,

This is a very difficult issue to talk about and to process but I think I have it down to three basic questions:

To put it very briefly, here are my answers to the questions posed by the reader above.  Yes, the Church (and the members in it) would need to repent for having taken vaccines that contain cells from aborted children.  Yes, the church also has an obligation to warn about the judgment that comes to those who oppress and destroy the innocent or those who take part in legitimizing that violence.  I am not aware of any scriptures that could justify the use of by-products of abortion in medical research.  Certainly the children involved did not lay down their lives as a sacrifice for the well-being of others; they had no say in the matter whatsoever, and the behavior of the researchers involved in the various cell lines used in these vaccines was immoral in the extreme, a subject I would like to speak at greater length about later.

Speaking as to your next question, I must admit that I was not aware until very recently of this matter myself.  Like most people, I suppose, I had the various vaccines that were required of me during my early childhood and while it is not any sort of secret where these vaccines come from, I had simply never looked into the matter myself.  I suspect a great many believers are in the same position, being hostile to abortion and thinking themselves not involved in the problem but also having found themselves being vaccinated as part of their involvement in public education.  There are quite a few people who have other objections to vaccines, but the source of the human cells used in the development of these vaccines is objectionable enough without speculation as to the role of vaccines in other diseases or the woeful ineffectiveness of vaccines in dealing with the flu, for example.  In that light, yes, I think people should be informed about the development of vaccines and what that has involved so that people can make a principled resistance to receiving into themselves anything that came from the murder of an innocent unborn child, something I and no doubt many others find abhorrent.

How I propose to address these concerns is as follows.  First, I propose to write a brief history of the sad history of the children involved in the vaccines from the research you have sent to me as well as my own reading that lays out how it is that several unborn children came to be a part of scientific research and vaccines that are given to people to this day.  After that I wish to discuss a bit more on the goals of vaccines and how it is that they have become so contentious in contemporary society.  After that I wish to discuss the reluctance on the part of many believers, and especially many religious institutions and organizations to deal with the ramifications of abortion and vaccines in the larger culture.  This all I hope to do if time permits.

[1] See, for example:

Book Review: Abolishing Abortion

Book Review: Abortion: The Ultimate Exploitation Of Women

Today In History: On January 22, 1973, The United States Supreme Court Legalized Abortion

For Three Transgressions And For Four: Amos On Abortion