Children of God's Debra Vinnedge Receives Evangelium Vitae Award

Cardinal Burke presenting Debi Vinnedge with the Evangelium Vitae Award.

I was thrilled to learn that Mrs. Debra L. Vinnedge was honored with the Evangelium Vitae Award at the Catholic Medical Association (CMA) conference in Orlando last month. Debi has been an advisor and friend since I first read about vaccines grown in cell lines derived from aborted human fetuses. Our family has been grateful for her efforts to provide parents with ethical and safer alternatives. The CMA recognized Debi for her “outstanding service to the prolife movement” and her accomplishment over the past fourteen years at her organization, Children of God for Life. Cardinal Burke presented her with the award (shown above).

Here’s a list of the fruits of her organization’s efforts since 2000.

They initiated the Campaign for Ethical Vaccines that currently has over 635,000 supporters nationwide.
They helped parents and families obtain ethical alternatives through their pro-life physician network in the United States.
They obtained clarification and guidance from the Pontifical Academy for Life regarding vaccines prepared in cells lines derived from aborted human fetuses.
They obtained separate doses of measles and mumps vaccines in mass quantity and shipped them to physicians for parents who could not afford them.
They worked with, and still are working with, the Japanese to obtain licensing for their ethical vaccines in the United States.
They helped families in in over three dozen foreign countries obtain ethical alternatives.
They coordinated with the Kitasato Institute to get traveling parents the moral versions for their children in Japan.
They successfully pressured the government to develop an ethical smallpox vaccine after the September 11th attacks in 2001.
They jointly purchased stock in Merck with Human Life International (HLI) to forge a shareholder resolution informing the public and stockholders of their unethical practices.
They wrote numerous letters to pharmaceutical companies—both good and bad to condemn or condone their manufacturing practices as appropriate.
They conducted nationwide seminars, appeared on local and national television and radio programs, issued massive press releases and paid advertisements, and distributed hundreds of thousands of free vaccine brochures world-wide to educate the public.
They are working with and promoting United States pharmaceutical companies who are willing to develop new ethical alternatives.
They filed a formal appeal with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for personal import of the ethical Japanese rubella vaccines under federal regulations for hundreds of families.
Their supporters are demanding legislation that would require accurate labeling and informed consent so that ethical alternatives may be selected, thus opening the market for companies willing to provide them.
And last but not least, they forged a partnership with Sound Choice Pharmaceutical Institute—a non-profit prolife biotech company whose goal is to provide moral alternatives for all problem vaccines.