Charlotte Pence Bond – April 16, 2021
On Friday, the Biden administration announced the removal of a previous barrier that restricted certain kinds of research conducted on fetal tissue from elective abortions.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) released a statement on Friday saying that it was undoing some of the previous administration’s policies regarding research conducted on fetal tissue gathered from abortions.
The statement said that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is “reversing its 2019 decision that all research applications for NIH grants and contracts proposing the use of human fetal tissue from elective abortions will be reviewed by an Ethics Advisory Board.” It added that another Human Fetal Tissue Research Ethics Advisory Board will not be created.
The statement noted: “NIH reminds the community of expectations to obtain informed consent from the donor for any NIH-funded research using human fetal tissue … and of continued obligations to conduct such research only in accord with any applicable federal, state, or local laws and regulations, including prohibitions on the payment of valuable consideration for such tissue.”
During a hearing at the House of Representatives on Thursday, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra discussed the changes prior to the official announcement, as reported by Politico.
“We believe that we have to do the research it takes to make sure that we are incorporating innovation and getting all of those types of treatments and therapies out there to the American people,” he said.
Pro-life groups have spoken out against the measure, saying that the topic would be a main issue in the midterm elections next year, the outlet reported.