'Disgusting': Clarence Thomas skewered for citing claim that COVID-19 vaccines come from 'aborted children'

'Disgusting': Clarence Thomas skewered for citing claim that COVID-19 vaccines come from 'aborted children'
Sonny Perdue is sworn in as the 31st Secretary of Agriculture by United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas with his wife Mary and family April 25, 2017, at the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Preston Keres).
Brandon Gage
June 30, 2022 Bank

United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas referenced a claim on Thursday that COVID-19 vaccines are engineered from cells taken from terminated pregnancies.

"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," Politico reported.

Thomas, one of the six right-wing jurists in the Court's majority who has upended decades of legal precedents in a slew of recent rulings, wrote that the petitioners "object on religious grounds to all available COVID–19 vaccines because they were developed using cell lines derived from aborted children."

READ MORE: How Clarence Thomas and Alito are 'cynically' using fake 'racial justice' claims to push a far-right agenda: legal scholar

Politico explained that allegation is preposterous:

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.

National Geographic also quashed this myth:

The cells are grown in a laboratory and were derived from a few elective abortions performed more than three decades ago. These same cell lines are also used to test and advance our understanding of several routine drugs, including acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and aspirin, and they continue to be used for treatment research in diseases such as Alzheimer’s and hypertension.

Doctors, legislators, journalists, and casual observers were in utter disbelief and horror that a sitting Supreme Court Justice would lend credence to such an outrageous conspiracy theory, which was hatched by a propaganda outlet called First Draft in 2020 and thoroughly debunked.




This story has been updated.

From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
Report typos and corrections to: feedback@alternet.org.

Understand the importance of honest news ?

So do we.

The past year has been the most arduous of our lives. The Covid-19 pandemic continues to be catastrophic not only to our health - mental and physical - but also to the stability of millions of people. For all of us independent news organizations, it’s no exception.

We’ve covered everything thrown at us this past year and will continue to do so with your support. We’ve always understood the importance of calling out corruption, regardless of political affiliation.

We need your support in this difficult time. Every reader contribution, no matter the amount, makes a difference in allowing our newsroom to bring you the stories that matter, at a time when being informed is more important than ever. Invest with us.

Make a one-time contribution to Alternet All Access, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you.

Click to donate by check.

DonateDonate by credit card
Donate by Paypal
{{ post.roar_specific_data.api_data.analytics }}
@2022 - AlterNet Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. - "Poynter" fonts provided by fontsempire.com.