RAPID CITY, S.D. – A third coronavirus vaccine has arrived in South Dakota and other states but is facing backlash from the Catholic Church.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops released a statement that expressed a “moral concern” over the Johnson & Johnson vaccine because of its use of lab-grown stem cells from the tissue of aborted fetuses. The cell lines date back to a single abortion decades ago and don’t contain tissue from the original fetus.
The other two vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna, used cell lines but only for testing.
The Church’s guidance said the latter two are more morally acceptable because they have fewer connections to aborted cell lines. The church’s Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith says it is acceptable to use the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, but only if no other vaccine option is available.
Father Leo Hausmann with the Diocese of Rapid City said that they stand by those moral objections. Colorado’s Catholic churches and the New Orleans Archdiocese have also lined up to endorse the guidance, which was issued Tuesday on the heels of the FDA’s decision to approve use of the newest vaccine.
