Can Workers Reject the J&J Shot? Religious Objections Explained

Johnson & Johnson’s use of fetal cells to make its Covid-19 vaccine recently drew concerns from some Catholic leaders that could spark resistance among the faithful to taking the shot.

The Catholic Church is staunchly opposed to abortion, and the cloned cells used in the J&J vaccine were derived from a fetus that was aborted in the 1980s. The U.S. Council of Bishops last week recommended avoiding the J&J vaccine if possible, while the Vatican said it’s “morally acceptable” to take vaccines that used fetal cell lines in their research and production process.

But a few church leaders have voiced ...