People with a conscientious objection to abortion should make known their opposition to the use of foetal remains in the development of vaccines. However, if nothing else is available, then using such vaccines can be morally defensible.

That’s according to a Senior Research Fellow of the Catholic Anscombe Bioethics Centre and a Research Fellow of Blackfriars Hall, Oxford.

Foetal tissue sourced from historical abortions was used many years ago to make various cell-lines that circulate in labs today and are used in developing some vaccines.

Helen Watts says those who need a vaccine, should first try to access the least problematic vaccine, one unconnected to abortion.

At the same time, she asked people to write to health authorities and to pharmaceutical companies urging them to make alternatives available. “The time is ripe to raise awareness of foetal tissue collection – a repellent practice which continues today albeit not normally for vaccine production.”

“Asking companies to avoid even a cell-line historically derived from foetal tissue collection will help make such collection – an act of close complicity with abortion – be seen as the aberration it is.”