Here’s your weekend long-read. Dobbs v. Jackson has had a ripple effect across health care—and now, vaccine innovation is on the line, says our Bio.News exclusive story.
What’s happening: During the 2022 state legislative sessions, several states—activated by the Dobbs v. Jackson decision—introduced bills seeking to restrict or ban the use of fetal tissue technology in the development of vaccines, with consensus building between anti-abortion activists and anti-vaccine activists.
Why it matters: “Many of us advocates are really, really worried that the decision is going to serve as a long-term catalyst and motivating factor for more of this kind of legislation to be filed,” Rekha Lakshmanan, Chief Strategy Officer at The Immunization Partnership, said in an interview with our reporter Clary Estes.
The specific target is fetal cell tissue technology—which has a long history of success dating to the 1930s and is well-regulated, with staunch ethical parameters in place that prevent coercion or profiteering.
Fetal tissue technology has been used to develop many vaccines: COVID-19, rubella, polio, hepatitis A, varicella (chickenpox), herpes zoster (shingles), smallpox, rabies, and adenovirus—and for some, no alternative vaccines can be made without utilizing fetal tissue.
The technology goes beyond vaccines—used in common medications like Tylenol as well as new research for Type I diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injury, and heart failure.
The long-term impact: “What happens—and what we have seen happen before—is first we talk about vaccines, then we start talking about other medications, then we start talking about research and development into different diseases, and it continues to snowball,” said Lakshmanan. “When we use legislation like this to target vaccines, everyday medications, and medical technological developments are not far off.”
Read the whole thing.
