Alternative Vaccinations - What if my pediatrician won't use them?

[ProdglArchitect]

So, I haven’t actually said anything about this on the forums yet, but my wife and I are expecting our first child. If all goes according to plan, he’ll be born this coming Friday.

I’ve looked up a list of the vaccinations that use these aborted fetal cell lines, along with morally licit alternatives. My question is, what if our pediatrician won’t use the alternative. Unfortunately, my wife is not quite as concerned about this matter as I am, and she’s dead set on using this particular pediatrician. (In her defense, this is our nephew’s pediatrician and she is a very good one by all accounts) So, what do I do if the doctor will not make considerations for my concerns and insists on using the more common vaccine? I know it’s a matter of remote material cooperation, but it still bothers me. Would it be morally acceptable to use these vaccinations if that’s the only option I’m presented with?

 

[pensmama87]

So, I haven’t actually said anything about this on the forums yet, but my wife and I are expecting our first child. If all goes according to plan, he’ll be born this coming Friday.

I’ve looked up a list of the vaccinations that use these aborted fetal cell lines, along with morally licit alternatives. My question is, what if our pediatrician won’t use the alternative. Unfortunately, my wife is not quite as concerned about this matter as I am, and she’s dead set on using this particular pediatrician. (In her defense, this is our nephew’s pediatrician and she is a very good one by all accounts) So, what do I do if the doctor will not make considerations for my concerns and insists on using the more common vaccine? I know it’s a matter of remote material cooperation, but it still bothers me. Would it be morally acceptable to use these vaccinations if that’s the only option I’m presented with?

Yes, it would be morally acceptable. There are a couple cases (in the US) where ethical alternatives are just not available, so we went ahead with those. But our pediatrician was open to using the alternatives (actually, for one of our children, there was a shortage of the problematic vaccines so that’s all the office was doing at that time anyway.) I did present good, solid research that showed the origins of the cell lines and explained exactly what my concerns were (at first, the doc misunderstood me and thought that I was saying that children were still being killed solely to make the vaccines, which is a theory that gets passed around the Internet, but is not accurate.) Having good information and expecting to be able to come to a peaceful resolution has worked very well with me with medical providers. I have noticed, at least in this area where friendliness is very much a part of the local culture, that those people who complain frequently about mean doctors tend to be very abrasive and expect a fight going in - so that’s what they get. So, expect it to go well!

 

[ProdglArchitect]

Yes, it would be morally acceptable. There are a couple cases (in the US) where ethical alternatives are just not available, so we went ahead with those. But our pediatrician was open to using the alternatives (actually, for one of our children, there was a shortage of the problematic vaccines so that’s all the office was doing at that time anyway.) I did present good, solid research that showed the origins of the cell lines and explained exactly what my concerns were (at first, the doc misunderstood me and thought that I was saying that children were still being killed solely to make the vaccines, which is a theory that gets passed around the Internet, but is not accurate.) Having good information and expecting to be able to come to a peaceful resolution has worked very well with me with medical providers. I have noticed, at least in this area where friendliness is very much a part of the local culture, that those people who complain frequently about mean doctors tend to be very abrasive and expect a fight going in - so that’s what they get. So, expect it to go well!

All good advice, thank you. I intend to be completely polite and cordial, I also just want to go in prepared.

Thank you!

 

[pensmama87]

All good advice, thank you. I intend to be completely polite and cordial, I also just want to go in prepared.

Thank you!

That’s a great plan!

And congratulations!

 

[ProdglArchitect]

That’s a great plan!

And congratulations!

Thanks. We’re excited and nervous.

 

[CradleJourney]

So, I haven’t actually said anything about this on the forums yet, but my wife and I are expecting our first child. If all goes according to plan, he’ll be born this coming Friday.

Congratulations! Prayers for a safe and happy delivery. A thousand welcomes to your new little one to be!

---

Side note from a mom of six: There will be times after the wee one arrives when sleep deprivation and life upheaval may make you forget what day it is or even your own name. They bring such blessings but oh, so much chaos as well That said, I’d like to remind you to be gentle with yourself and your wife if you forget your concerns or forget to mention them in a manner timely enough to do something about them. Maybe the pediatrician is willing but on one visit you forget to remind them for example.

Maybe it was just me but I’d sometimes even forget it was Sunday and therefor miss Mass thinking it was only Saturday. As a wise and gentle priest reminded me - God knows we can only do what we can do. And He knows if something is accidentally forgotten.

So hopefully, all will go smoothly, the alternatives will be available, you will be relaxed and well organized parents with little trouble settling into a new routine with your new blessing. On the other hand, if not…do what you can do and don’t berate yourself too harshly if something slips through the cracks.

Again, congratulations!
CJ

 

[AdamP88]

So, I haven’t actually said anything about this on the forums yet, but my wife and I are expecting our first child. If all goes according to plan, he’ll be born this coming Friday.

I’ve looked up a list of the vaccinations that use these aborted fetal cell lines, along with morally licit alternatives. My question is, what if our pediatrician won’t use the alternative. Unfortunately, my wife is not quite as concerned about this matter as I am, and she’s dead set on using this particular pediatrician. (In her defense, this is our nephew’s pediatrician and she is a very good one by all accounts) So, what do I do if the doctor will not make considerations for my concerns and insists on using the more common vaccine? I know it’s a matter of remote material cooperation, but it still bothers me. Would it be morally acceptable to use these vaccinations if that’s the only option I’m presented with?

The Church actually says that it is not immoral to use these vaccines. I would just use what the doctor recommends. Your child’s health is more important that a moral consideration about something that is very, very far removed from the current situation.

 

[ProdglArchitect]

The Church actually says that it is not immoral to use these vaccines. I would just use what the doctor recommends. Your child’s health is more important that a moral consideration about something that is very, very far removed from the current situation.

Egh, not quite. The official statement on the question says:

From the Vatican document: “Moral Reflections on Vaccines Prepared from Cells Derived from Aborted Human Foetuses”:

As regards those who need to use such vaccines for reasons of health, it must be emphasized that, apart from every form of formal cooperation, in general, doctors or parents who resort to the use of these vaccines for their children, in spite of knowing their origin (voluntary abortion), carry out a form of very remote mediate material cooperation, and thus very mild, in the performance of the original act of abortion, and a mediate material cooperation, with regard to the marketing of cells coming from abortions, and immediate, with regard to the marketing of vaccines produced with such cells. The cooperation is therefore more intense on the part of the authorities and national health systems that accept the use of the vaccines.

However, in this situation, the aspect of passive cooperation is that which stands out most.** It is up to the faithful and citizens of upright conscience (fathers of families, doctors, etc.) to oppose, even by making an objection of conscience, the ever more widespread attacks against life and the “culture of death” which underlies them. From this point of view, the use of vaccines whose production is connected with procured abortion constitutes at least a mediate remote passive material cooperation to the abortion, and an immediate passive material cooperation with regard to their marketing.** Furthermore, on a cultural level, the use of such vaccines contributes in the creation of a generalized social consensus to the operation of the pharmaceutical industries which produce them in an immoral way.

Therefore, doctors and fathers of families have a duty to take recourse to alternative vaccines13 (if they exist), putting pressure on the political authorities and health systems so that other vaccines without moral problems become available. They should take recourse, if necessary, to the use of conscientious objection14 with regard to the use of vaccines produced by means of cell lines of aborted human foetal origin. Equally, they should oppose by all means (in writing, through the various associations, mass media, etc.) the vaccines which do not yet have morally acceptable alternatives, creating pressure so that alternative vaccines are prepared, which are not connected with the abortion of a human foetus, and requesting rigorous legal control of the pharmaceutical industry producers.

Emphasis mine.

If an alternative exists, we have an obligation to seek it out to the best of our ability. If one doesn’t, then yes, it’s acceptable to use the vaccination derived from an aborted fetal cell line, but if there is an alternative, it is best to use that instead.

 

[AdamP88]

If an alternative exists, we have an obligation to seek it out to the best of our ability. If one doesn’t, then yes, it’s acceptable to use the vaccination derived from an aborted fetal cell line, but if there is an alternative, it is best to use that instead.

Fair enough, but to be fair most people probably don’t even know about vaccines produces in this manner. Or that there were aborted fetal cells involved in vaccine production. I read another document years ago that appeared to say that the degree of cooperation on the part of the parent deciding to get the vaccine was so small that it was basically irrelevant.

In any case, it would be good to find a Catholic doctor who is knowledgeable in such things and discuss the issue with them.

 

[EasterJoy]

You may want an alternative that your pediatrician does not use or isn’t comfortable using. That does not mean you can’t use it. It only means you have to get it somewhere else.

My main advice would be to get information from your local health department concerning which vaccines do and do not meet standards for school enrollment and what the standards are for going a different route, should you elect to do that. Have your pediatrician explain the medical evidence for the choice you are making. Then document, document, document–I mean, get an official record when you can, rather than a written form of your own recollections–and make certain your pediatrician has copies of your records that satisfy the health department. Keep a back-up copy of all vaccination records and all other records you cannot afford to lose in your safety deposit box, in case the doctor’s office is lost to a fire or has some other catastrophic records loss. You will need these for school and may need them if you take your child out of the country on a trip.

These are of course records that you should make sure the person or persons who will be taking care of your child is aware of and can access, in case of your incapacity. We didn’t keep ourselves ready for a bad accident or an untimely death by having a plan in place for who would take care of our children if something happened to us and how they’d know how we wanted it done. We always felt we took a terrible chance by that failure. You’ll sleep better if you do better than we did!

 

[2cherubs]

I’ve been down this road with three children and learned a fair amount along the way.

It’s not a matter of the vaccine brands that your doctor “recommends.” The specific brands stocked in medical practices are a matter of politics, price, and convenience, not science.

Each state sends vaccines to clinics under the federal Vaccines for Children program, which guarantees that the vaccines themselves will be “free,” i.e. taxpayer-funded, for patients. (You or your insurance will still be billed for exam fees and vaccine administration fees). Doctors participating in VfC don’t get a say in which brands are sent to their practices. In my personal experience, it’s really hard to find a provider who doesn’t participate in VfC.

You might ask if you could order a more ethically sourced brand, but you will probably have to pay for it out of pocket. I didn’t have any luck with this approach, but it’s certainly worth a try! Also keep in mind that there’s no ethical alternative to MMR, nor is there any current effort to develop one.

Your wee babe has already been born and seen the pediatrician, but hopefully this information helps other parents! God bless!