Two-Thirds of the Fetal Tissue Ethics Advisory Board Members Elevate Ideology Over Science

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Research using fetal tissue has been used to create lifesaving vaccines and treatments for a myriad of diseases and medical conditions. Yet, in 2019, the Trump administration issued restrictions banning the use of newly acquired fetal tissue research in federally funded research. This decision came contrary to the word of National Institute of Health (NIH) scientists, and rather, at the behest of anti-abortion lobbyists with outsized influence over the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

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Research Relying on Fetal Tissue: A Timeline of Ideological, Anti-Science HHS Politics

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The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) political staff have routinely pursued anti-science and anti-abortion policies and actions. Using rhetoric pulled directly from far-right and anti-abortion groups, HHS political appointees have disrupted effective and important research, putting scientific advancement for lifesaving vaccines and treatments at risk. One such example is research using fetal tissue, where focus from anti-abortion groups has resulted in actions and policy goals that fail the real needs of the American public.

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Scientific Research Relying on Fetal Tissue: The Facts

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Research Relying on Fetal Tissue: The Facts

Critical for understanding human biology and development of new medical technologies.
  • This research has profound potential to advance clinical knowledge and treatment options for life-threatening and chronic diseases.
  • Researchers use fetal tissue to produce cell cultures that can be maintained in a laboratory environment for very long periods of time, in some cases indefinitely.
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Scientific Research Relying on Fetal Tissue: Legislative and Legal History

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Fetal tissue donation and use in research has been strictly regulated for decades to ensure that the highest ethical standards are upheld.

  • Fetal tissue research has been conducted in the United States since the middle of the twentieth century.
  • The Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, which was adopted by the states in the 1970s, regulated the use of organs and tissues after death and prohibited their sale for profit or use for anything but research or therapeutic reasons.
  • In 1974, the National Research Act created a national commission to evaluate the ethics of
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