MERCK: VOTE AGAINST RESOLUTION TO STOP THE USE OF ABORTED FETAL TISSUE IN VACCINES

Children of God for Life ^ | March 25, 2003 | Debi Vinnedge

[cpforlife.org]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 25, 2003
Contact:
Debi Vinnedge, Executive Director
Children of God for Life (727) 538-5558
Email: debi@cogforlife.org
http://www.cogforlife.org

MERCK REQUESTS SHAREHOLDERS VOTE AGAINST RESOLUTION TO STOP THE USE OF ABORTED FETAL TISSUE IN VACCINES

(Clearwater, FL; Front Royal, VA) Pro-life organizations, Children of God for Life and Human Life International charged today that pharmaceutical giant, Merck & Co. has betrayed their stockholders by refusing to include language in Shareholder Proposal No. 7. that would have revealed:

- An organized boycott of all Merck products
- A resolution by the Catholic Medical Association to use alternatives to their vaccines cultivated on aborted fetal tissue
and
- Instruction by investment counseling organization, Pro Vita Advisors, that investors divest their Merck stock.

By using aborted fetal cell lines in vaccine production, Human Life International, President Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, who purchased sufficient shares of Merck stock demanded fellow shareholders be informed that Merck has violated its own Statement on Values, which states in part, "We are committed to the highest standards of ethics and integrity".

In a 5-page letter to the SEC, Merck pleaded their case to keep the entire resolution from becoming public, stating that the use of aborted fetal cell lines falls under ordinary business and therefore should be excluded from the proxy vote. In addition, Merck refused to acknowledge that they were profiting from the destruction of human life, stating there was no financial evidence to prove it. Merck’s net income for 2002 was $7,149.5 million, with $34.6 million in viral vaccine sales.

While the SEC agreed to allow the information to be included in this years annual meeting, Merck’s attorneys were able to successfully remove most of the critical language.

What they have done is deny their stockholders the right to vote on the true language of the resolution, stated Children of God for Life’s Executive Director Debi Vinnedge, who has organized the boycott and the Campaign for Ethical Vaccines with over 475,000 signatures.

Rev Euteneuer agreed. Watch for your proxy cards in the mail and if their practice of using aborted fetal cell lines offends you, vote in favor of Resolution 7., to appoint a special committee linking executive compensation with the Company’s ethical performance.

"What went in and what came out of that resolution are quite different", said Vinnedge. "While we are pleased that the SEC agreed to provide stockholders with the information that aborted fetal cell lines are used in Merck's vaccines, we also believe they should be aware of boycotts, investment warnings and the resolution by the Catholic Medical Association to use alternatives. In effect, such actions by several organizations and parents to boycott all Merck products and use alternatives may eventually decrease their sales numbers and devalue the stock".

To review the Merck Proxy statement being mailed to shareholders for consideration at the upcoming meeting, go to: http://www.merck.com/finance/proxy/pr2003/proposal_4.html

To review the unabridged version of this press release with the original language of the Resolution as submitted by Human Life International go to: http://www.cogforlife.org/merckpress.htm

God bless always, Debi Vinnedge, Executive Director Children of God for Life http://www.cogforlife.org

[APBaer]

"BOYCOT MERCK!!!"


Er,....gee, sure you don't mean:
"Boycott spelling"?

[HiTech RedNeck]

All you need is one cell to grow a line. Why should abortion be required to get it, even if it is desired to have it from a fetus? Why couldn't it be picked up out of the amniotic sac fluid, or as a by product of the new technique of fetal surgery?

[hobbes1]

How About Pro Choice ? Someone exercising their Judgement over a living being that has no voice with which to choose?

[shhrubbery!]

Yeah, I do love the English language. And Peacekeeper missiles DID keep the peace.

As for your claim that prolifers oppose "sav[ing] the life of an ectopic mother" (I assume you mean a mother with an ectopic pregnancy), please post your sources.

[syriacus]

I'm glad to hear tabs are being kept on which drugs are derived from work on human fetuses.

Freedom of choice (in drugs) should be encouraged.

[syriacus]

Bookmarked.

[Ronaldus Magnus]

Thank you for posting this and please bump me on any related posts. It took over an hour to check all of the vaccines that one of my children needed at his last visit to make sure that none were made with the wreckage of abortion. For many vaccinations (influenza, chicken pox), there are no alternatives currently available to those made with aborted fetuses.

Please let me know if anyone would like to do a pro-life Freep at Merck's headquarters or wherever the shareholder meeting is being held before the vote. I will try to fly out from Wisconsin to be there.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Cells can also be taken from early stage embryos without harming the embryo. This is routinely done in preimplantation genetic diagnosis.

[Black Agnes]

Info ping.

[cpforlife.org]

No. I mean. "BOYCOTT MERCK, and correct spelling."

Haven’ you heard abou he raioning of “T” since he war!!!! Ooops, I jus used my daily quoa!!

[cyborg]

DISGUSTING. This is a scene out of Matrix!

[hocndoc]

First, I don't like the source of these cell lines and support using other cell lines. For one thing, any legitimization of even one elective abortion is wrong. For another, I think it would be healthier to use non-human cell lines and that it's dangerous to use 30 year old, homogeonous lines. An infection in these lines would be a catastrophe for the nation's ability to produce vaccines since there is no push to find alternate sources. In other words, the status quo is that these lines are cheap compared to the animal alternatives, legal and available, so why change or do research?

But.....

The lines are old - from single, named abortions from the 60's and 70's. (New tissue samples aren't used from new abortions. But, that doesn't mean some researchers aren't trying to find their new line from new specimens from today's abortions.

Influenza vaccine isn't produced in human cell lines. It's produced in chicken embryos (fertilized chicken eggs.)
http://www.influenzaconnection.com/manufacturing.html
Go to "Fluzone Influenza Virus Vaccine product insert."

There is a fine point of difference between these cell lines and embryonic stem cell research (very fine line). None of these children were created and killed or even killed for the purpose of creating the vaccines. In embryonic stem cell cloning or somatic cell nuclear transfer cloning of embryos the child is created for the express purpose of killing him or her in order to harvest the crop of cells.

[cpforlife.org]

The news spreads!

Merck Attempts to Hide Investment Facts, Says Group
U.S. Newswire
27 Mar 17:38
Merck Attempts to Hide Important Investment Facts From Shareholder
Proxy Vote, Says Children of God for Life
To: National Desk
Contact: Debi Vinnedge of Children of God for Life
727-538-5558 or debi@cogforlife.org

WASHINGTON, March 27 /U.S. Newswire/ -- "It is clear from their
actions, that Merck does not want their stockholders to know the
truth about how they conduct their business," said Fr. Thomas
Euteneuer, president of Human Life International (HLI), a Merck &
Co. stockholder. "If this is 'ordinary business' as Merck claims,
then they wouldn't have petitioned the Securities and Exchange
Commission for permission to remove the indicting language from our
stockholder proposal."

Working with Children of God for Life and Pro Vita Advisors, HLI
drafted Stockholder Proposal No. 7 which made clear -- despite
claims of employing, "the highest standards of ethics and
integrity," in its business practices -- that Merck & Co. continues
to use aborted fetal cell lines in the creation of certain
vaccines. The original resolution sought to educate investors to
potential business and financial repercussions related to the
continued use of these cell lines. Merck sought to hide from
investors that:

-- Merck faces an organized boycott of all Merck products
because aborted fetal cell lines are used in vaccines;

-- The Catholic Medical Association (CMA) passed a resolution to
use alternatives to Merck's and other drug companies vaccines that
are cultivated from aborted fetal cell lines;

-- Pro Vita Advisors, an investment counseling organization,
advises investors to divest their Merck stock because of its
continued use of aborted fetal cell lines

In a five-page letter, Merck originally pleaded with the SEC to
keep the entire resolution off the company's proxy vote, but failed
at that effort. Merck did succeed, however, in convincing the SEC
to remove the language that would have informed voters of these
potential risks. Merck has refused to acknowledge that they profit
from the destruction of human life despite the fact that $34.6
million of their $7.2 billion net income for 2002 was from viral
vaccine sales.

Debi Vinnedge, executive director of Children of God for Life,
stated, "We believe stockholders have a right to know these types
of details about a company in which they are investing. If that
company is subject to boycotts, investment warnings and resolutions
like the one from the CMA, it could suffer a severe loss in sales
and devaluation in stock."

Merck Proxy:
http://www.merck.com/finance/proxy/pr2003/proposal_4.html

To read more on the aborted fetal tissue vaccines visit:
http://www.cogforlife.org

http://www.usnewswire.com
-0-
/U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/
03/27 17:38

Copyright 2003, U.S. Newswire

[cpforlife.org]

AND SPREADS SOME MORE!!

Merck & Co. Criticized for Using Aborted Fetal Tissue in Vaccines


3/28/03


Clearwater, FL — Pro-life organizations, Children of God for Life and Human Life International charged today that pharmaceutical giant, Merck & Co. has betrayed their stockholders by refusing to include language in Shareholder Proposal No. 7. that would have revealed:



• An organized boycott of all Merck products
• A resolution by the Catholic Medical Association to use alternatives to their vaccines cultivated on aborted fetal tissue and
• Instruction by investment counseling organization, Pro Vita Advisors, that investors divest their Merck stock.
By using aborted fetal cell lines in vaccine production, Human Life International, President Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, who purchased sufficient shares of Merck stock demanded fellow shareholders be informed that Merck has violated its own Statement on Values, which states in part, "We are committed to the highest standards of ethics and integrity".

In a 5-page letter to the SEC, Merck pleaded their case to keep the entire resolution from becoming public, stating that the use of aborted fetal cell lines falls under ordinary business and therefore should be excluded from the proxy vote. In addition, Merck refused to acknowledge that they were profiting from the destruction of human life, stating there was no financial evidence to prove it. Merck's net income for 2002 was $7,149.5 million, with $34.6 million in viral vaccine sales.

While the SEC agreed to allow the information to be included in this year’s annual meeting, Merck's attorneys were able to successfully remove most of the critical language.

What they have done is deny their stockholders the right to vote on the true language of the resolution, stated Children of God for Life's Executive Director Debi Vinnedge, who has organized the boycott and the Campaign for Ethical Vaccines with over 475,000 signatures.

Rev Euteneuer agreed. Watch for your proxy cards in the mail and if their practice of using aborted fetal cell lines offends you, vote in favor of Resolution 7, to appoint a special committee linking executive compensation with the Company's ethical performance.

"What went in and what came out of that resolution are quite different", said Vinnedge. "While we are pleased that the SEC agreed to provide stockholders with the information that aborted fetal cell lines are used in Merck's vaccines, we also believe they should be aware of boycotts, investment warnings and the resolution by the Catholic Medical Association to use alternatives. In effect, such actions by several organizations and parents to boycott all Merck products and use alternatives may eventually decrease their sales numbers and devalue the stock".

To review the Merck Proxy statement being mailed to shareholders for consideration at the upcoming meeting, go to: Stockholder Proposal Concerning Ethical and Social Performance of the Company


(This article courtesy of Steven Ertelt and the Pro-Life Infonet email newsletter. For more information or to subscribe go to www.prolifeinfo.org or email infonet@prolifeinfo.org.)

[cpforlife.org]

And this from http://www.all.org

vaccines



MERCK: In accord with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Policy on Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines (http://www.usccb.org/finance/srig.htm), Children of God for Life has requested all Catholic bishops' support a Merck resolution filed and approved by the SEC. The resolution notifies shareholders and brings to vote the issue of using "cell-cultures from aborted humans" in their vaccines. In proxy cards mailed to shareholders this week, Merck recommends a vote against this resolution.

(Reading: "Stockholder proposal concerning ethical and social performance of the company," Merck proxy statement, http://www.merck.com/finance/proxy/pr2003/proposal_4.html; "SEC forces Merck to reveal use of aborted fetal cell lines in vaccines," Children of God for Life/Human Life International news release, 3/27/03, http://www.cogforlife.org/merckpress.htm)



TAINTED VACCINES: To obtain information on vaccines and the types that are manufactured using the cells from aborted children -- and what to do about it -- please see the Children of God for Life web site: http://www.cogforlife.org.



VACCINE SAFETY: To learn about risk factors and other questions relating to the safety of vaccines, please see the National Vaccine Information Center web site: http://www.909shot.com/.