Clarence Thomas suggests Covid vaccines are developed using cells of 'aborted children'

[RandySF]

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in a dissenting opinion Thursday suggested that Covid-19 vaccines were developed using the cells of “aborted children.”

The conservative justice’s statement came in a dissenting opinion on a case in which the Supreme Court declined to hear a religious liberty challenge to New York’s Covid-19 vaccine mandate from 16 health care workers. The state requires that all health care workers show proof of vaccination.

“They object on religious grounds to all available COVID–19 vaccines because they were developed using cell lines derived from aborted children,” Thomas said of the petitioners.

None of the Covid-19 vaccines in the United States contain the cells of aborted fetuses. Cells obtained from elective abortions decades ago were used in testing during the Covid vaccine development process, a practice that is common in vaccine testing — including for the rubella and chickenpox vaccinations.

A group of doctors, nurses and other health care workers brought the case, suing the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York in an objection to the state’s vaccine mandate on religious grounds. The district court issued a preliminary injunction, but the Court of Appeals reversed it and the Supreme Court ultimately declined to hear the challenge on Thursday.




https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/30/clarence-thomas-claims-covid-vaccines-are-derived-from-the-cells-of-aborted-children-00043483

[C_U_L8R]

1. The Justice is blindingly stupid.

Time to pack it in, Thomas.

[Mike Nelson]

2. Yikes!

... a supreme idiot!

[lpbk2713]

3. Put him in a straight jacket.

He's out of control.

[iluvtennis]

4. What a shithole Clarence Thomas is. uugggh

[Ms. Toad]

5. Facts matter, folks. His statement is factually accurate.

Whether or not we agree with those objecting to vaccination for that reason (and whehter or not the objections are sincere).

Most vaccines WERE developed USING cell lines derived from aborted fetuses.

Development of vaccines includes the entire process from initial design through approval by the appropriate medical/governing entities. That development includes testing - and most of the vaccines WERE tested using HEK 293 (a line of cells derived from aborted fetuses).

Developed using does not mean contains, or derived from. Developed using means that the cell lines were used in the development process - just like lab equipment and human volunteers to test it. Just like the lab equipment and humans used to develop the vaccines, the vaccines are not derived from and do not contain lab equipment or humans, neither does is the final vaccine derived from nor does it contain the HEK 293 line of cells.

But it was developed from.

Aside from that - there is a legal argument which passes the laugh test, which is the heart of Thomas's dissent from the 6 justices who said, "move along, nothing here to see."

I wish places like the Politico would be more factual and less inflammatory. Lay people depend on news sources, with better resources than most lay people to understand sometimes subtle legal issues. I get it that this case may seem ridiculous to someone who hasn't studied the law - but it seems especially ridiculous when places like Political focus on an inflammatory statement and completely miss the legal question.

The legal argument is that even though Smith (and progeny) permit states to enact and enforce generally applicable laws or policy which religious freedom - so long as those laws or policies are not directed to the suppression of religion, there is no religious exemption.

The question in this case is whether the state requirement lost its status as a generally applicable law when it allowed those with medical exemptions to continue to work without being vaccinated - BUT - refused to allow those claiming a religious exemption to continue working without being vaccinated. The moment the state treated those with religious objections differently, it is legally questionable (under a case decided last year) whether the policy can hold without passing strict scrutiny.

Thomas wanted the Supreme Court to answer that question. Not whether the religious objection was real or valid. Not whehter vaccinations were a good policy. Just the narrow question of whether the state treating religious objections to vaccination in a more restrictive manner than it treated medical objections requires a different legal evaluation as to whether the policy is legally enforceable.

[WestMichRad]

8. Thanks for the explanation!

Nt

[Ms. Toad]

11. You're welcome. n/t

[Amishman]

9. This is correct I believe

One distinction is that all cells used are from roughly 500 stem cell lines, many of which date back decades. Since 2009, it has been extremely difficult to cultivate a new cell line legally, and little incentive to do so

This is a good example of how they manipulate. Make a claim that is actually true, but leave out specific details so the listener jumps to an incorrect conclusion. It's clever and extremely effective

[Ms. Toad]

10. Yes - and it doesn't help when we don't sort out the facts on our side -

and act out of righteous outrage, rather than with a solid understanding of the facts.

[BlueBloodedAmerican]

6. Long Dong believes that crap because Ginni Baby told him to believe it.

[applegrove]

7. Just when Pfizer is testing universal covid vaccine. Republicans really want

their base to die.

[Ms. Toad]

12. Remember - Thomas only commented because he was on the losing side.

Six justices declined to accept the case. Thomas is just opining that it shoudl have.

[applegrove]

14. Oh good. I thought it was one of many decisions the SC made this week that make me cringe. I did

not want to know more. Too much. No Mas. No mas

[Ms. Toad]

15. The court declined to hear the case from NY state

from folks complaining that they lost their jobs due to a state policy which required healthcare workers to be vaccinated against COVID.

[applegrove]

16. Phew.

[In It to Win It]

17. And that, boys and girls, is the man shaping our laws and rules of civilization

[LetMyPeopleVote]

18. Thomas is a Qnutcase