Episode 44: Mary Anne Urlakis interviews Stacy Trasancos presents on COVID19 vaccinations (March 23, 2021)

Dr. Stacy Trasancos joins Dr. Mary Anne Urlakis for Episode 44 of
WCAT Radio’s “Inter Vitam et Mortem: Between Life and Death:
Interviews and Discussion with a Catholic Bioethicist” to discuss
the current COVID vaccinations. Dr. Trasancos is a scientist,
theologian, and mother; she holds a Doctorate in Chemistry from
Penn State University and a Master’s in Dogmatic Theology (summa
cum laude) from Holy Apostles College and Seminary. Dr. Trasancos
is the Executive Director of Bishop Joseph Strickland’s St. Philip
Institute of Catechesis and Evangelization in Tyler, Texas, and the
Chief Research Officer of Children of God for Life. She is a Fellow
of the Word on Fire Institute and an Adjunct Professor at Seton
Hall University Catholic Studies program. Her work focuses on the
integration of faith and science. In this episode Stacy Trasancos
and Mary Anne Urlakis discuss the ethical implications of the
current COVID vaccines, as well as those vaccines currently in
development. Their ethical inquiry centers on three significant
bioethical issues: (1) the liceity of using abortion-derived
cell-lines for vaccine production, (2) the necessity of
authentically informed consent, and (3) the sanctity of the human
conscience and the issue of paternalism and coercion.

Dr. Trasancos is a frequent guest on Catholic media, including
Relevant Radio, Ave Maria Radio, EWTN, Catholic Answers Live, and
The Journey Home. She has written numerous articles for Catholic
publications and is the author of Science Was Born of Christianity:
The Teaching of Fr. Stanley L. Jaki and Particles of Faith: A
Catholic Guide to Navigating Science (Ave Maria Press), which has
also been published as a textbook for Catholic high schools and
colleges.

Additionally, she has published a Catholic Answers booklet 20
Answers: Bioethics, and she writes the Science column for the
National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly. In her most recent book, she
examines the scientific evidence for Eucharistic miracles,
co-authored with Fr. George Elliott entitled Behold, It Is I:
Scripture, Tradition, and Science on the Real Presence of Christ in
the Eucharist (TAN Books).

More information is available on the Children of God for Life
website: https://cogforlife.org. Additionally, Dr. Stacy Trasancos’
position statement regarding the use of tissue derived from
abortion in the development and production of COVID vaccines can be
found at National Catholic Register and Catholic Answers. Her
recent webinar presentation for ITEST, the Institute for the
Theological Encounter with Science and Technology, entitled: “Is it
Moral to Take the COVID Vaccine?” is available at: COVID-19 Vaccine
Ethics - Institute for Theological Encounter with Science and
Technology (faithscience.org).