Aside from regenerative medicine, another major medical application
of fetal tissue research is the study of how a fetus is harmed by exposure to infections and toxins during pregnancy.
In 1993, President Bill Clinton lifted the ban on federal funding
for fetal tissue research, resulting in extensive federal contracts for research.
And it cites numerous examples to conclude that «
human fetal tissue research makes a vanishingly small contribution to clinical and research efforts.»
Federally funded scientists would also be free to derive new cell lines from aborted fetal tissue and to work on those cells, as long as they followed ethical standards already in place for
other fetal tissue research.
From
early fetal tissue research to the first successful human treatments, this timeline documents the progress in stem cell science,...
The answer is still yes, and here's why:
Fetal tissue research plays a relatively small, but critical role in one of the most promising areas of biomedical research, called regenerative medicine.
State witnesses failed to present any proof showing Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast violated the law or altered abortion procedures for
fetal tissue research purposes during the second day of court hearings challenging Texas officials» decision to cut off Medicaid funds to Planned Parenthood affiliates in Texas, including Austin centers.
Meanwhile, groups looking for possible cures for devastating diseases, and seeing potential breakthroughs in other countries, urged Congress to cancel a federal funding ban
on fetal tissue research imposed by Reagan and continued under President George H.W. Bush.
What is true is that two out of 59 Planned Parenthood affiliates (down from seven) are involved in
legal fetal tissue research, offering a connection between scientists and women who want to donate tissue.
How ardently he might try to influence administration policy regarding
human fetal tissue research, which congressional Republicans have targeted for elimination since 2015, is far from clear.
Among those who voted then to allow federal funding
for fetal tissue research was now - Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R - Ky.
«Human
fetal tissue research has gone on for decades.
The National Institutes of Health awarded contracts totaling $ 76 million in 2014 to biomedical scientists for
fetal tissue research.
The House of Representatives Select Investigative Panel investigating the procurement of fetal tissue for research has disbanded, but not before recommending that the National Institutes of Health be required to stop funding
fetal tissue research, and that the huge health provider Planned Parenthood be stripped of U.S. funding.
There's nothing, for example, on the most vexing biomedical issue of the Bush years, the continuation of the Reagan - era ban on federal funding of
fetal tissue research.
Given current U.S. law governing abortions, and the strong scientific case for
fetal tissue research, a vote by Congress to restrict fetal tissue research would needlessly hamper science, while having no impact on abortion.
July 31, 2015 • A series of sting videos targeting Planned Parenthood is raising questions about the field of
fetal tissue research.
Asked if the goal was to eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood,
fetal tissue research or both, David Daleiden, the head of the Center for Medical Progress, the group that took the videos, said in a statement: «The goal of our investigation is to reveal the truth about Planned Parenthood's trafficking and sale of aborted baby body parts for profit, which is illegal and unethical.
Who does the work: Three Planned Parenthood health centers in three states (California, Washington, and Oregon) are involved in tissue donation — two for
fetal tissue research and one for placenta research.
President Bill Clinton overturned the ban by executive order in 1993, and federal funding for
fetal tissue research was formally authorized in a similar NIH bill passed later that year.
Fetal tissue research has broad support in the research community.
In 1993, Congress passed the National Institutes of Health Revitalization Act in 1993, which permits all tissue to be used for
fetal tissue research, with overwhelming support from the House (290 — 130) and Senate (94 - 3).