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cine invented by Dr. Stanley Plotkin—dubbed rent. Plotkin’s dismissive remarks about religion Plotkin’s
by CNBC the “Godfather of Vaccines”—who and religious exemptions notwithstanding (see rubella
also worked at the Wistar Institute (see sidebar). sidebar below), the ethical implications of using
Rubella, also known as German measles, gener- abortion-tainted vaccines are a real concern. As vaccine strain
ally causes only mild rashes and fever, but in citizens of the U.S.A., we have an expectation is called RA
pregnant women, rubella infection can lead to that the government will respect our religious 27/3 because
devastating developmental defects in the fetus. beliefs and will not pass laws that unnecessar-
Plotkin cultured rubella virus from a fetus ily interfere with individual means of worship. Plotkin made
aborted because the mother was infected with State laws increasingly dictate manda- twenty-six
rubella. His rubella vaccine strain is called RA tory vaccination, however, including requiring
27/3 because Plotkin made twenty-six attempts vaccines for school and even university atten- attempts to
to isolate the rubella virus from fetal tissue be- dance. Five states—California, Maine, Mis- isolate the
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fore succeeding with the twenty-seventh aborted sissippi, New York and West Virginia—have rubella virus
fetus sent to the Wistar Institute. Consisting of revoked the right (thus far still recognized in
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a weakened or attenuated version of the virus other states) to claim either a personal-consci- from fetal
strain grown in the WI-38 cell line, Plotkin’s entious belief exemption or a religious belief tissue before
vaccine was the first rubella vaccine to use a exemption to vaccination. Parents who live in succeeding
human fetal cell line as a growth medium. In one of those states are forced to vaccinate their
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1979, Plotkin’s rubella formulation was incorpo- children unless they qualify for a notoriously with the
rated into Maurice Hilleman’s measles, mumps difficult-to-obtain medical exemption. Under twenty-
and rubella (MMR) vaccine—in use up to the California’s Senate Bill 277, passed in 2015, seventh
present day—replacing the original rubella children in daycare or in private or public el-
component developed by Hilleman. ementary or secondary school must be fully aborted fetus.
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age-appropriately vaccinated for diphtheria,
MORALLY ABHORRENT hepatitis B, Hib, measles, mumps, pertussis,
Public opinion about vaccination may vary poliomyelitis, rubella, tetanus, varicella and
among those of every faith, but for many the idea any other disease deemed appropriate by the
of injecting oneself or one’s children with vac- California Department of Health. The bill’s
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cines cultured in fetal tissue is morally abhor- sponsor, Senator and pediatrician Richard Pan,

ADMISSIONS FROM THE “GODFATHER OF VACCINES”

In a 2019 deposition, Stanley Plotkin answered questions from a lawyer who was defending the rights of a mother
who refused to vaccinate her child due to concerns about the ingredients in vaccines. Plotkin stated that he had gone
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through seventy-six aborted fetuses in just one study to determine whether they could be used to make vaccines. Under
oath, Plotkin admitted that after harvesting, the fetuses were cut up into little pieces and cultured by Plotkin’s cowork-
ers. Fetal body parts used in the research included the pituitary gland, lungs, skin, kidney, spleen, heart and tongue.
The fetuses in question had been developing normally and were all at least three months old when aborted. By the
end of the third month of pregnancy, a baby is fully formed, with arms, hands, fingers, feet and toes; the beginnings of
fingernails, toenails and teeth; and the ability to open and close fists and mouth. The circulatory and urinary systems
are working, and the liver produces bile. 27
During the 2019 deposition, Plotkin did not contest the fact that some of the fetuses came from women who had
abortions in psychiatric institutions, and he openly admitted that he had used orphans and mentally handicapped
persons to study experimental vaccines. Plotkin also agreed that he had once written that it was better to perform
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experiments on those with limited “potential” to contribute to society, such as children with disabilities, rather than on
those without such disabilities. In addition, he admitted using babies of mothers in prison to study an experimental
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vaccine as well as individuals under colonial rule in the Belgian Congo, where his studies involved over a million people.
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Plotkin, the author of the standard reference book Vaccines, also said that he is an atheist and does not believe anyone
should be allowed to claim a religious objection to vaccination. Plotkin, incidentally, received one diphtheria vaccine in
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childhood as opposed to the sixty-nine doses of sixteen different vaccines that most children are now required to get. 30

FALL 2020 Wise Traditions 75