Straining out gnats and swallowing camels
You may have seen it. A letter. A letter to the Hon, Scott Morrison, Prime Minister. A letter from three very eminent men: The Most Rev Dr Glenn N Davies, Archbishop of Sydney and Metropolitan New South Wales, Most Rev Anthony Fisher OP Catholic Archbishop of Sydney and His Eminence Archbishop Makarios, Primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia. With the very impressive crests/coat of arms/logos adorning the letterhead, the two page letter is a response to the selection of the Covid-19 the vaccine contender by the government.
These men are ‘disappointed’ the government ‘has chosen to throw its lot in with the one that makes use of a cell-line (HEK293) cultured from an electively aborted human foetus’. (This cell-line originated in 1973 in The Netherlands under a legal medical procedure.) Further, the letter states that ‘…other vaccine trials are being conducted that do not involve the use of morally compromised human cell lines’ and seeks assurance, inter alia, that ‘an ethically uncontroversial alternative vaccine be made available in Australia if it is achieved’
While I have no argument with the ethical dilemma some may have with the use of HEK293 cell-line in vaccine development, I am wondering why we haven’t seen an equivalent outcry from the church in respect of other vaccines such as the Rubella vaccine which uses the same cell line? Nor in respect of the enormous amount of medical research and subsequent development of life saving pharmaceuticals using another ‘morally compromised human cell-line’.
I refer to the HeLa cell-line. The most widely used cell-line in medical science. This cell-line was harvested from a cancerous growth in a black American woman, named Henrietta Lacks, in 1951. Without her nor her family’s knowledge or consent, her cells were given to a researcher to study. The cells were discovered to replicate quickly, were easy to grow, were hardy and did not die after many replications. Again, without the knowledge or consent of her family, Henrietta Lacks’ cells were then shared with the scientific community throughout the world. Then 20 years later, Henrietta’s husband and children were used in scientific investigations on the HeLa cells again without their consent or knowledge.
This trice ‘morally compromised cell-line’ has been used to develop polio vaccine, understand the effect of x-rays on cells, understand and develop cancer treatments, develop treatments of many blood disorders, understand HIV infection and to study viral causes of cancers to name a few medical advances. Henrietta’s cells have been found in the humble work of teaching students the art and science of tissue culture to the lofty heights of research leading to Nobel Prizes. More than 110,000 scientific research papers involving the HeLa cell-line and today HeLa cells can be purchased over the internet. This woman’s immortal cells have spawned a multi-million dollar industry.
Yet there does not seem to be the same high moral stance by the ‘church’, against the use of this cell-line which was harvested under ‘morally compromised’ circumstances.
Is using cells from an elective, legal abortion with informed consent considered by the eminent church leaders to be more morally compromised than experimentation on an African American family without their knowledge or consent?
Why are these church leaders so concerned about this issue when there are more pressing Covid-19 problems facing those are living in poverty, homeless, jobless, dealing with mental health as well as the ongoing racial inequalities we see in Australia?
I wonder what would happen, if these powerful and eminent church leaders, together, as a block, backed these issues. Would we see action and change?
I just wonder.
PS. Henrietta died within a year of diagnosis of her cancer and in the 1970’s her name was correctly associated with the cell-line. A book ‘The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks’ by Rebecca Skloot 2010, details the story of the Henrietta Lack, the HeLa cell-line, the ethical issues of race and class in medical care in the USA and the emergence of bioethics.
by Loraine Holley
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