Parents may allow kids to get vaccines linked to abortion - Catholic News Service, 12/12/08:

The human cell lines used to cultivate the production of many vaccines used today come from tissue derived from two human fetuses aborted in 1964 and 1970.

Because the abortions occurred so long ago, Bishop Sgreccia said a parent's consent to use vaccines associated with those cell lines does not reflect any form of cooperation with the evil of the original abortions.

There is no risk of causing scandal either, he said, because using such vaccines in no way encourages more abortions.

While parents are not obliged to vaccinate their child, they do have a duty to protect their child's health, he said.

Some governments and schools, however, do mandate that children be inoculated in efforts to stop the spread of certain infectious diseases, he said.

For this reason, national health systems must "change course" and substitute controversial vaccines for alternatives so Catholics will no longer be forced to act against their consciences, he said.

Bishop Sgreccia said effective vaccines that are not derived from human embryos or fetuses are being produced and are on the market, but that they are not always available in every country.