Washington D.C., May 15, 2008 / 01:32 am
A U.S. Coast Guard officer who refused to be injected with a vaccine derived from the remains of an aborted child has been granted an exemption from the required vaccination.
In May 2006 the Coast Guard ordered all active-duty personnel to receive one of two vaccines against Hepatitis A or show proof of immunity. The vaccines are derived from lung tissue taken from a child who was aborted at 14 weeks-old and then dissected.
Though the Coast Guard allows religious exemptions for those who hold a “religious tenet or belief contrary to immunization,” officials initially refused to grant an exemption for Lt. Cmdr. Joseph J. Healy, who is Catholic.
Healy, in compliance with Coast Guard requirements, submitted a memo requesting a religious exemption because of his Catholic faith and strong opposition to abortion. A higher-ranking officer denied the request, claiming that Catholic teaching “does not state that these immunizations are against the religious tenets of the Catholic Church.”