United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas claimed 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."
Politico explained why Thomas' remarks are 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.
Doctors, legislators, journalists, and casual observers were in utter disbelief and horror that a sitting Supreme Court Justice would peddle such an outrageous conspiracy theory, which was hatched by a propaganda outlet called First Draft in 2020 and thoroughly debunked.
Clarence Thomas suggests Covid vaccines are derived from the cells of ‘aborted children’
— 🏴☠️ Bob Lawrence --Obama is #1 (@TrumpluvsObama) June 30, 2022
Has he lost all his mental facilities and is being controlled by Ginni? https://t.co/v43c0JT2Sp
Further proof that Thomas is viewing issues through the thick, distorted goggles of the fundamentalist Christian BS machine. What an idiot...
— Collin Fisher, PhD🌻🇺🇦 (@CollinFisher) June 30, 2022
Clarence Thomas suggests Covid vaccines are derived from the cells of ‘aborted children’ https://t.co/vsRzDeaIeY
So Clarence Thomas cites DEBUNKED claim that Covid vaccines are made with cells from 'aborted children.’
— Neenzmd (@neenzmd) June 30, 2022
This is ABSOLUTELY INVALID AND WRONG. The world is falling apart.
In an opinion on Thursday, Clarence Thomas falsely claimed that Covid-19 vaccines were developed using the cells of “aborted children.”
— Zack Stanton (@zackstanton) June 30, 2022
None of the Covid-19 vaccines in the United States contain the cells of aborted fetuses. https://t.co/zlM2IHid8x
Justice Thomas has already proven that he is unfit to serve as a Supreme Court Justice. Spreading false information about a lifesaving vaccine is further evidence that he must either resign or be removed. https://t.co/bgIpIPgyxn
— Jan Schakowsky (@janschakowsky) June 30, 2022
Awesome, we have a QAnon Supreme Court Justice.
— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) June 30, 2022
Clarence Thomas claims Covid vaccines are derived from the cells of ‘aborted children’ https://t.co/mbG8uP0zqe via @politico