Mat Staver from Liberty Counsel has never been known for his sound logic and wisdom, but his latest tirade is flat-out dangerous. In an effort to sound an alarm about Planned Parenthood, he’s warning people against taking a potential COVID-19 vaccine.
The reason? He says the vaccine is the result of “aborted baby parts” from Planned Parenthood.
The top 5 COVID vaccines are made using the livers, thymus, lung and eye tissue of aborted children… murdered babies are being sold for profit and now their tiny body parts are being used to create “humanized mice” for the COVID vaccine.
He may win the prize for most Christian fear-mongering in the least space, but none of that is accurate.
Staver is referring to the 2015 video that attempted to implicate Planned Parenthood in illegally selling fetal tissue from abortions, even though the filmmakers admitted to doctoring the videos. Planned Parenthood later won a lawsuit against them. Further investigation found no evidence of guilt, either. In truth, Planned Parenthood donated the tissues, which would otherwise have been thrown away, to researchers who needed them in exchange for covering the costs of shipping/handling.
That research has led to developments in “degenerative eye disease, human development disorders such as Down syndrome, and infectious diseases.”
But to Staver, that means “the DNA of murdered children will be injected into the bloodstream of anyone who takes those tainted vaccines.”
(Fetal tissue does not come from “murdered children.” Staver must have traded in his scientific knowledge for a degree in hyperbole.)
The cells used in vaccines today are decades old at this point, and the abortions they derived from were not performed for the purpose of furthering modern medicine. What’s more, even the pope discourages refusing vaccines when the community at large is at risk.
Staver goes on to say “there are many who object to vaccinations not just for philosophical and religious reasons,” as if those are legitimate reasons to put public health at risk. There may be legitimate medical reasons to refuse vaccines. Everything else is just ignorance or warped theology. If a vaccine is developed in the near future, conservatives are already announcing to the world they will not take it. Among Republicans, 40% say they probably will avoid a vaccine. (27% of all adults feel the same.)
That “pro-life” scientific ignorance will ultimately lead to far more deaths.
Even beyond the vaccine misinformation, Staver refuses to admit all the ways Planned Parenthood actually helps low-income women (and men) with health issues that have nothing to do with abortion. That should raise everyone’s hackles every time he attempts to smear the organization. His accusations are baseless, and his bias prevents him from being objective.