Trump administration imposes new restrictions on research on fetal tissue

The Trump administration on Wednesday terminated medical research by government scientists using fetal tissue and also canceled a multi-million dollar contract for a university lab using the equipment to test new HIV treatments.

This decision is a victory for proponents of abortion and a major disappointment for scientists who claim that tissue collected as a result of voluntary abortions has uncovered the secrets of diseases ranging from HIV Zika, vaccine production and treatment of diseases such as Parkinson's disease.

"Promoting the dignity of human life from conception to natural death is one of the top priorities of President Trump's administration," said the six-paragraph statement from the Department of Health and Services. social.

The immediate loser is a laboratory at the University of California at San Francisco, whose multi-year contract with the government to test the HIV inheritance was terminated without explanation. The government was his only source of funding.

No further funding for fetal tissue research by non-government research laboratories will be discontinued. However, officials said future applications for federal assistance would be submitted to a new ethics advisory board.

Last September, the Department of Health and Social Services announced that it was starting what it said would be a comprehensive review of all fetal tissue research "in the light of serious regulatory, ethical and other considerations. ethical principles involved. "

Wednesday's announcement announces the end of last year's announcement at an NIH Invitational Workshop on the debate on federal support for fetal tissue research facilitated by Brett Giroir, Assistant Secretary to the health of the HHS. Giroir explained to the scientists that, at least for grants and contracts for researchers employed by academic and non-governmental laboratories, there would be no interruption of funding, provided that the experiments comply with the ethical guidelines of their universities and the federal government, according to one participant. .

In the context of the administration's review of fetal tissue, White House, HHS and NIH officials focused on the controversial issue of whether there are effective alternatives to fetal tissue in such areas. research.

The scientific community felt that no adequate alternative existed. Opponents, however, say that newer methods, including the use of thymus tissue from newborns who undergo cardiac surgeries, appear promising.

In September, the department also canceled a contract with a California-based company, Advanced Bioscience Resources, which was one of the leading suppliers of fetal tissue implanted in laboratory mice. The company had been targeted by the same anti-abortion activists who had filmed infiltration videos of Planned Parenthood officials and had them heavily mounted in an attempt to discredit the organization.

While the fetal tissue audit, as it is called by HHS, was still in progress, the administration was already beginning to signal its reluctance to let the money flow to two labs that use "humanized mice," implanted with fetal tissue. , promising therapies to treat HIV.

In December, the National Institutes of Health informed a senior scientist at one of these laboratories – at UCSF – that he was retaining the next $ 2 million annual tranche of a multi-year contract that was the only source funding from the laboratory. A few days later, the NIHs rotated and extended the contract in 90-day increments. That's the funding that expires on Wednesday.

Senior NIH officials denied in December that the researcher was ever informed that funds would be cut.

In the same month, an experienced scientist from an NIH laboratory in Montana was told that he could no longer obtain fetal tissue for his laboratory's HIV research. The researcher was later informed that the NIH would continue to support his work.

At the end of last year, at the NIH Invitational Workshop, Mr. Giroir, who oversaw much of the audit, told participants that any alternative source of fabric "must be as predictive, reliable and validated as existing models, "according to a scientist was present.

Read more

House Republicans Reinforce Pressure to Stop Funding for Fetal Tissue Research

Research on fetal tissue targeted by the enemies of abortion within the administration

Undercover video shows Planned Parenthood leader discussing fetal organs used for research