Vaccine Development and Ethical Concerns

In your work related to vaccines, uh, how many fetuses have been part

of that work?

My own personal work? Two.

I'm gonna hand you what's been marked Plaintiff's Exhibit 41.

Okay.

Are you familiar with this article, Dr. Plotkin?

Yes.

Okay. Are you listed as an author on this

article?

Yes.

Okay.

This study took place at The Wistar Institute, correct?

Yes.

You were at The Wistar Institute, correct?

Yes.

How many fetuses were used in the study described in this

article?

Uh, quite a few.

So

this study involved 74 fetuses, correct?

Oh, I don't remember exactly how many.

Turn to page 12 of the study.

Yeah, 76.

76.

Mm-hmm.

And, uh, these fetuses, uh, were

th- all three months or older when aborted, correct?

Yes.

Okay. And these were all normally developed

fetuses, correct?

Yes.

What organs did you harvest from these fetuses?

Well, I didn't personally harvest any, but, uh,

a, a whole range of, uh, tissues were harvested,

um, by, uh, coworkers.

Okay. And were, these pieces were then cut up into little pieces,

right?

Yes.

And they were cultured?

Yes.

Okay. Um, some of the

pieces of the

fetuses were pituitary gland

that were, that were chopped up into pieces to-

Mm-hmm.

Okay. Included the lung of the fetuses?

Yes.

Okay. Included skin?

Yes.

Kidney?

Yes.

Spleen?

Yes.

Heart?

Y- yes.

And, and tongue?

Uh, I don't recall, but, yeah, probably yes.

Um, so,

uh, I, I just wanna make sure I understand.

In, in, in your entire career...

Is, and this was just one study, so I- I'm gonna ask, I'm gonna ask you again.

In your t- entire career, how many fetuses have you worked with, um,

approximately?

Well, I don't remember the exact number, but, uh, quite a few

when we were studying them, uh, originally before we decided

to use them to make vaccines.

Do you have any sense? I mean, this one study had 76.

How many other studies did you have that you used aborted fetuses for?

Oh, I, I don't remember how many.

You're, you're aware, are you aware that the, one of the, uh,

objections to vaccination by the

plaintiff in this case is

the inclusion of aborted fetal

tissue in the development of vaccines and the fact that it's actually

part of the ingredients of vaccines?

Yeah. I'm aware of those objections.

Okay.

The, uh, Catholic Church has actually issued a

document

on that which says that individuals who need the

vaccine should receive the vaccines regardless of the fact,

and that, uh, that, uh, um, uh, I think it implies that I

am the individual who will go to hell because

of the use of aborted tissues-

Do, do you-

... which I am glad to, to do.

Okay. Do you know if the mother is Catholic?

I have no idea.

Okay.

Uh, y- do you take issue with religious beliefs?

Yes.

Okay. Uh, you have said that, quote, "Vaccination is always under

attack by religious zealots who believe that the will of God includes death and

disease."

Yes.

You stand by that statement?

I absolutely do.

Okay. Are you an atheist?

Yes.