Meet Patrick/Patricia

An 8-9 weeks gestation baby whose sex was never noted. This child was one of over 80 unborn babies killed in a study on isolating the rubella virus.[1] The designation means Rubella, Abortus, 27th fetus, 3rd tissue culture explant.

Explant cultures were made of the dissected organs of a particular fetus aborted because of rubella, the 27th in our series of fetuses aborted. This fetus was from a 25-year-old mother exposed to rubella 8 days after her last menstrual period. 16 days later she developed rubella. The fetus was surgically aborted 17 days after maternal illness and dissected immediately. Explants from several organs were cultured and successful cell growth was achieved from lung, skin, and kidney. It was then grown on WI-38… The new vaccine was tested on orphans in Philadelphia.[2]

This particular child was the 27^th in the series of abortions during the 1964 rubella epidemic, and it was the 3^rd tissue culture which was chosen arbitrarily for further study. These virus-laden cells were then used to infect the fetal cells of WI-38. The Rubella virus obtained from the aborted fetus kidney was used in Rubella and MMR vaccines. At least 99 abortions to create the rubella vaccine alone.[3]