Q Have you ever worked on developing a vaccine that was eventually used by the public?
A Yes.
Q Which ones?
A Well, rubella, rotavirus, rabies.
And I've made contributions here and there to anthrax, cytomegalovirus.
Varicella.
Q Your work related to vaccines, how many fetuses have been part of that work?
A My own personal work, two.
Q I'm going to hand you what's been marked plaintiff's exhibit 41.
Okay.
Are you familiar with this article, Dr. Plotkin?
A Yes.
Q Are you listed as an author on this article?
A Yes.
Q This study took place at the Wistar Institute, correct?
A Yes.
Q You were at the Wistar Institute, correct?
A Yes.
Q How many fetuses were used in the study described in this article?
A Quite a few.
Q So this study involved 74 fetuses, correct?
A I don't remember exactly how many.
Q Turn to page 12 of the study.
A Yeah, 76.
Q Seventy-six.
And these fetuses were all three months or older when aborted, correct?
A Yes.
Q And these were all normally developed fetuses, correct?
A Yes.
Q What organs did you harvest from these fetuses?
A Well, I didn't personally harvest any,
but a whole range of tissues were harvested by coworkers.
Q And these pieces were then cut up into little pieces, right?
A Yes.
Q And they were cultured?
A Yes.
Q Some of the pieces of the fetuses were pituitary gland
that were chopped up into pieces, okay, included the lung of the fetuses?
A Yes.
Q Okay, included the skin?
A Yes.
Q Kidney?
A Yes.
Q Spleen?
A Yes.
Q Heart?
A Yes.
Q And tongue?
A I don't recall, but probably yes.
Q So I just want to make sure I understand.
In your entire career, and this was just one study,
so I'm going to ask you again,
in your entire career, how many fetuses have you worked with?
A Well, I don't remember the exact number,
but quite a few when we were studying them originally
before we decided to use them to make vaccines.
Q Do you have any sense? I mean, this one study had 76.
How many other studies did you have that you used aborted fetuses for?
A Oh, I don't remember how many.
Q Are you aware that one of the objections to vaccination
by the plaintiff in this case is the inclusion of aborted fetal tissue
in the development of vaccines and the fact that it's actually
part of the ingredients of vaccines?
A Yeah. I'm aware of those objections.
The Catholic Church has actually issued a document on that
which says that individuals who need the vaccine
should receive the vaccines regardless of the fact.
And I think it implies that I am the individual who will go to hell
because of the use of aborted tissues, which I am glad to do.
Q Okay. Do you know if the mother is Catholic?
A I have no idea.
Q Okay. Do you take issue with religious beliefs?
A Yes.
Q You have said that, quote,
vaccination is always under attack by religious zealots
who believe that the will of God includes death and disease.
A Yes.
Q You stand by that statement?
A I absolutely do.
Q Okay. Are you an atheist?
A Yes.