Whereas the supreme teaching authority of the Catholic Church, as illumined by Sacred Scripture and Apostolic Tradition, is defined in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, under the Magisterium of the Church and the Apostolic Authority of Pope John Paul II, and,
Whereas the Catechism of the Catholic Church holds abortion to be intrinsically evil, so much so that the consequences of such practice is grave enough to warrant Excommunication, and
Whereas the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Vatican have all denounced both abortion and human fetal tissue research procured from abortion or deliberately destroyed human embryos, and
Whereas the Catechism of the Catholic Church defers to moral conscience as the guideline that states, “In all he says and does, man is obliged to follow faithfully what he knows to be just and right”, therefore be it known that:
A Catholic, according to his good conscience and under direct teaching of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church has the absolute right to refuse any medical products derived from aborted fetal tissue, including vaccinations, tissue transplants or future products derived from embryonic stem cell research or other areas that in themselves directly contradict the moral laws of the Church.
Be it further noted that the Catholic Church encourages the faithful to use alternative products where they are available, rather than those derived from deliberately destroyed human life and that the Catholic Church accepts such human life to begin at the moment of fertilization through natural death.
Additional information:
- The authority of the Catechism of the Catholic Church
- The Catechism teaching on moral conscience
- The Catechism teachings on abortion
- The Catechism teachings on human research
- The Teachings of Sacred Scripture
- The Teachings of the founding Church fathers (Apostolic tradition)
- Excerpts from Donum Vitae and Evangelium Vitae
Information compiled with the assistance of Children of God for Life