Last Wednesday, the Trump administration enforced new restrictions on the federal use of fetal tissue obtained from abortions, and prohibited scientists at the National Institute of Health from using fetal tissue remains from abortion for research. The restrictions also canceled an existing HIV research contract with the University of California, San Francisco.
The Department of Health and Human Services, also announced that it plans to impose new ethics reviews, for the oversight of the use of government funds at various universities and scientific centers currently receiving more than $100 million in contracts from the government. HHS announced last year that it also plans to explore possible alternatives to using fetal tissue derived from abortion.
“Promoting the dignity of human life from conception to natural death is one of the very top priorities of President Trump’s administration,” HHS said in a statement. “[NIH internal] research that requires new acquisition of fetal tissue from elective abortions will not be conducted.”
Research conducted using fetal tissue remains from abortion is unethical. It’s antiquated.
Leaving newborns to die is horrible, but letting scientists pick through their bodies for parts is an even larger affront to human dignity.
Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash) said last year, “Treating these tiny humans like a junkyard, where groups like Planned Parenthood can scavenge for parts, is hardly the retail business anyone should want to hang a shingle over. And yet Americans continue to be unwilling investors in the organization and their taxpayer-funded Frankenstein.
And as the House select panel pointed out last year, “Human fetal tissue research is an outdated and unproductive area of research that does not make a strong impact on the field. In over 100 years of unrestricted investigation, human fetal tissue research has had ample time to prove useful, yet it has failed to do so. Fetal tissue HAS NOT produced a single medical treatment.”
According to Decision Magazine:
“The fact is aborted fetal tissue hasn’t been used to create the cure of a single disease,” said Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council, after HHS announced last year that the NIH would discontinue research involving the use of human fetal tissue from elective abortion. “However, tax dollars have been contributing to an industry that fosters the trafficking of body parts from aborted babies. There is absolutely no reason to use these grisly remains when ethical and effective alternatives exist including human umbilical cord blood stem cells and adult peripheral blood stem cells.”
According to Politico, “The White House said that the administration was unified on its new fetal tissue policy. “This was the President’s decision, not a Joe Grogan or Alex Azar decision,” said deputy press secretary Judd Deere.
The move by the HHS is a step in the right direction, and we look forward to the continued promotions of the sanctity and dignity of all human life.
