Vaccine Abortion

My Vaccination Vexation

Like most people of my generation in the United States, I was vaccinated against Hepatitis B, Meningitis, Measles, Mumps, Rubella, and a suite of other diseases when I was but a child. Those records followed me all the way to high school, as they are required by most schools. They were not required at my college. But somewhere between then and now they got lost. And now, my university, a public institution, is compelled by state law to ask for them.

It's a bit of an annoyance, really. Do they really believe I could have gotten through the public school system without getting the required vaccinations? Of course not, they don't think at all. It is simply a requirement imposed upon the university, and ultimately, on me. But it is a bit irritating, after all. The specific vaccine in question was the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) combination vaccine.

I am for vaccinations, and I do believe they have done a lot of good in preventing the spread of these dangerous diseases. However, I am not a fan of needles poking me, nor do I take injections casually. But having no proof on hand, I was left with only two viable choices: Take the required shots again, or have an antibody titer done to test for the presence of the antibodies to these diseases in my blood.

I preferred to have an antibody titer done, but after inquiring, the cost of this was way over that of the cost of taking the shots at the university. So I sat in the university health clinic, reading over the papers for the MMR vaccine, reassuring me of its safety, ending strangely in warnings about "permanent brain damage". I wasn't feeling very reassured, for some reason.

Still, I was ready to take the vaccine-- after all, I had taken it already years ago as a child, and suffered no such ills (I think). Then I was told it would cost twice as much as I had thought. It turns out the MMR shot is $60 (which I am told is very reasonable), however two shots need to be administered, so the final cost ends up being $120, twice the amount I had understood.

This was close enough to the cost of the antibody titer to cause me to leave the clinic that day and re-evaluate my options. The MMR shots need to be taken at least 28 days apart, which would delay my semester registration slightly, while the results of an antibody titer would be in much more quickly. At this point, it was a practical issue of cost and time for me. What I did not expect was for the MMR vaccination to become a moral issue for me.

An Additional Ingredient

During my search for information on the MMR vaccine, I found that in addition to a rather unsavory list of ingredients, it includes Human Fetal Diploid Cells, which are cells derived from aborted babies. Color me shocked. This was news to me. And I suspect most people who have received the vaccine are as in the dark about this as I was.

I am no doctor, but the following is my understanding of why this is so. Viruses can't propagate on their own; they need a host to do so. Some viruses can be successfully grown in animal embryos, but not all of them. This includes some of those in the MMR vaccine. Thus, the only way to successfully replicate these viruses is on an otherwise healthy, aborted human fetus. According to the CDC, and other sources, the cells used to make the MMR vaccine today come from one of two unborn babies aborted in the 1960's.

Suddenly, this begs for moral consideration.

On the positive side, no new aborted babies have been used since then to make the vaccine, and many lives have been saved via vaccination. On the other hand, the vaccine benefited from, and in fact would have been impossible without, an abortion. This is of serious significance for those who oppose abortion. I would categorize myself as pro-life, but it is not my intension to discuss the issue of abortion in this article. Instead, I intend to point out that it is actually a serious issue to consider.

It is always a mistake to blindly trust authority and to take vaccinations lightly. It is your duty to educate yourself, and know to the best of your ability, what is going inside your body, where it comes from, and what the health and moral ramifications are. I am not advocating a position either for or against the MMR vaccine based on this information. But I do think it's a matter which requires consideration, and even personal reflection.

Alternatives

Objecting to the use of cells from an aborted fetus does not rule out all vaccinations. Other vaccines which were once exclusively made this way are now available from alternative sources and methods of production. Such an alternative to the MMR vaccine, to the best knowledge of this author, is not yet available. But this may be a possibility in the not-to-distant future if enough people demand it.

I have yet to decide either way. I try to avoid coming to rash, emotionally charged conclusions, or ones with no consideration for moral consequences. But there is a third option I hadn't considered originally. It's a vaccine waiver for religious exemption. Since I belong to no formal religion, or have any particular belief against vaccinations in general, I hadn't considered this before learning what I now know. But it is an option, even if you are not religious, for anyone who has a moral objection to vaccination.

There is a notable caveat to this option. This is an excerpt from the waiver available at my university:

"I also understand that I may be excluded from attending classes or other activities for the duration of a vaccine preventable disease outbreak which can last up to 21 days after the last case is detected.

I agree that I shall be completely responsible for any costs associated with my exclusion from classes or university activities, including inability to receive a refund of tuition and fees due to medical withdrawal or course drop."

Though I do not know if any university in the U.S. has ever exercised this power, it is certainly a caveat to remember. One would hope such a situation never comes to pass in the first place, of course.

Everything considered, I think an antibody titer is more likely in my immediate future.

Strange the discovery a missing medical record can lead to, no?

Below are some links I found useful:

• National Network for Immunization Information
• Vaccination And Abortion
• Ethical Alternatives to Fetal Cell-line Vaccines

This article was updated on July 2, 2009.

Go Skateboarding!

June 21st is Go Skateboarding Day.

I gave skateboarding a try a little over a year ago. No, I wasn't a kid or a teenager anymore. I am no gifted skateboarder. But the experience was entirely worthwhile. Though I admire the talent of those trick-master skateboarders, I realized that would not be me, and I made it not my aim to be. Instead, I took simply to learning to ride the board, to roll, to accelerate, decelerate, change the direction the board by balancing my body, and stop without eating it (this is the most challenging part).

I bought my skateboard at a skateboarding shop at the local mall. At first, I practiced at a shopping center parking lot in my area, late at night, after all the businesses were closed. After a few unsuccessful attempts at merely getting on this wicked piece of wood with wheels I had just shelled out good money for, I saw the security guard approaching me in his little cart. I was ready to be told the wrongs of my way and to go elsewhere.

It turned out the guard was a pretty nice fellow. Apparently, my "skills" were so horrid, this man thought I had had a few too many drinks! We struck up a nice conversation, and I was warned only not to hit any cars. I also had some cops come by and watch me rather intensely and conspicuously for a while for a few days. But they eventually left me alone, perhaps realizing some overzealous skateboarder-wanna-be was no great danger to public safety. Thank goodness, as I had no desire to fuel the skateboarders vs. cops stereotype, especially not at my age.

Since then, I have been able to get a handle on most of the basics of riding a skateboard. There is no doubt, there can be much improvement, and there are basic things, like changing direction swiftly, which I have yet to handle well. But skateboarding has given me joy I do not often experience. The simple act of riding a skateboard up and down a hill is one of uninhibited, childlike delight. The simple act of eating the concrete after that is one of sobering pain.

But even in this there is a valuable lesson. Skateboarding has taught me that pain is often the product of fear, and the hesitation of non-commitment. It reminds me to appreciate and live in the moment more often. It apprises me that sometimes an expeditious decision is essential. It even got me to thinking about the ongoing social perceptions and issues with skateboarding and skateboarders in general, which I find interestingly challenging, but I digress, as that is another article in itself!

Skateboarding has a very creative and individualistic element to it. It is an art backed up and ruled by hard science. It has much to teach and offer. Merely the art on the boards themselves is another entire dimension to the culture created by this experience. Painting my own board was yet another part of the fun for me.

I'd never claim to be a "serious" skateboarder. I'm just not that great, nor do I ride nearly enough to profess such seriousness. But I certainly do have a feel for it, and I have even earned my skateboarding scars. And though limitedly, I enjoy it a great deal. I'd like to get a longboard at some point in the future, as riding is what I prefer.

Unfortunately, Go Skateboarding Day and Father's Day coincide this year. If you're really lucky you can give dad a new skateboard and combine the two. Otherwise, you can pick up your board and ride up and down the block one time or two, which are my great plans. Though some areas will have some big events anyway. In any case, whether this weekend, or another, take my advise and just:

Go Skateboarding!