HHS halts fetal tissue research

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Wednesday it has terminated a major contract for research that used tissue from aborted babies. The contract with the University of California, San Francisco, funded research that made mice with human-like immune systems for studying diseases. HHS also announced that new grant applications for similar research would be subject to review by an ethics advisory board.

In September 2018, HHS began to review contracts that used human fetal tissue for testing. Later that year, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced a new $20 million funding grant to researchers who would look into other research models, such as adult stem cells, that do not use tissue from aborted babies for research.

David Prentice, vice president of the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute, said the move demonstrates that the government will “now invest in effective research methods that do not rely on the destruction of human life.” He clarified in a call with media that the NIH will no longer use aborted fetal tissue at its own campus or in associated laboratories, but it still has ongoing contracts with outside laboratories that use fetal tissue. “This step is a good step and a preliminary step to stop taxpayer funding of the trafficking of aborted fetal tissue,” Prentice said. “We look forward to more.”