Making Products Based on Fetal Cells

Excerpt from "Pepsi Not Only Company Making Products Based on Fetal Cells," LifeNews.com, by Steven Ertelt. March 6, 2012--Pepsi is coming under criticism from pro-life advocates because it has been contracting with a research firm that uses fetal cells from babies victimized by abortions to test and produce artificial flavor enhancers. The Obama administration is set to face more criticism because an agency has declared that Pepsi’s use of the company and its controversial flavor testing process constitutes “ordinary business.” In a decision delivered to the Security and Exchange Commission ruled that PepsiCo’s use of aborted fetal remains in their research and development agreement with Senomyx to produce flavor enhancers falls under “ordinary business operations.”

As pro-life blogger Susan Michelle notes, the full 36-page document submitted by PepsiCo attorneys in January 2012 to respond to a shareholder resolution from PepsiCo shareholders upset by Pepsi’s reliance on Senomyx shows other companies are problematic as well. “It’s tragic that this is true. Precedent exist; we’ve created pharmaceuticals and wrinkle cream from cells and tissue from aborted babies, so why wouldn’t we make that the product of flavor testing now? People love their food and spend lots of money every year on their snack foods. We are the market for this, and we buy this stuff,” the pro-life advocate continues.

“The precedent does exist because we have furthered the culture of death. When we allowed fetal cell research, we opened the door for this. While that law needs to be changed as soon as possible, what needs to happen immediately is that PepsiCo (which includes Frito-Lay) Nestle and Kraft need to display morality and ethics and pull out, regardless of the cost, from Senomyx,” she concludes. “We can’t feign shock because we’ve been doing this for years with medicine and skin creams, so this was bound to happen. And only the changing of hearts will reverse it. As long as we are a consumer-driven culture with an appetite for what pleases us, these companies have us where they want us, and we are a part of the profit from the shedding of innocent blood.” “The SEC decision is a result of its upholding the status quo, the current culture of death. We’ve allowed a society that couldn’t permit anything else. Now we have to change it,” Michelle said.
As recently as May, Pepsi ignored concerns and criticism from dozens of pro-life groups and tens of thousands of pro-life people who voiced their opposition to PepsiCo contracting with biotech company Senomyx even after it was found to be testing their food additives using fetal cells from abortions.

Staff Counsel American United for Life Mailee Smith: "Recent news reports detailing Pepsi’s potential use of fetal cells for 'flavor testing' has left the American public asking many questions. Is this true? Pepsi says no, but pro-life watchdogs say yes. Pepsi claims that '[t]here are no stem cells, cell lines derived from embryos or fetuses, or fetal tissues in any PepsiCo products.' But that is not the same as saying the company does not use stem cells or aborted fetuses for any purposes.

"And it raises an additional question: Are other companies using fetal cells? LifeSiteNews has reported that Kraft, Cadbury and others also use aborted fetal cell lines.

"But there are some absolutes we can focus on as we sift through this information. First, biotechnologies are vastly outpacing regulation. Simply put, the law has not kept up with science.
"Second, we know that companies can experiment on the cells of aborted children in 45 states—meaning there is no limit to what Pepsi or Kraft or any private citizen can do in those states. While 19 states prohibit fetal experimentation to some degree, only five of those states prohibit experimentation on aborted fetuses at any stage of development. The remaining 14 states only prohibit experimentation if done on a viable aborted fetus or on a live fetus. In other words, 45 states do not prohibit experimentation on first trimester fetuses, when most abortions are performed.

"Ten years ago, the fight (which is still waging) was to prevent research on so-called 'leftover embryos,' allegedly conducted for the 'common good' of medicine. We have already slipped so far that today, companies are using cell lines not to seek cures for human disease or somehow improve medical treatments—no, companies are using cell lines to make our food taste better. The time is now for states to rise up and legislate fences around 'biotechnology.'"

CMDA Ethics Statement: Stem Cell Research