Administration To Audit All Federally Funded Research Using Fetal Tissue, Reigniting Decades-Long Controversy
Following the news that HHS would terminate a small contract with a California biosciences firm came a larger announcement that the agency is going to launch a comprehensive review of all government-funded research that uses fetal tissue. Biomedical scientists were alarmed that the audit could lead to restrictions, saying fetal tissue has been vital in testing vaccines, exploring Parkinson’s disease treatments and understanding the transmission of HIV.
The Washington Post:
Trump Administration Launches Review Of Government-Funded Fetal Tissue Research
The Trump administration has launched a review of all federally funded research that uses fetal tissue and has canceled one contract for such material, stepping into a decades-old controversy that has been a sidelight to the ideological war over abortion. Federal health officials dispatched a letter Monday ending a contract with a California-based nonprofit group targeted by social conservatives in Congress and a coalition of antiabortion and faith-based groups. In July, the Food and Drug Administration had agreed to pay the organization, Advanced Bioscience Resources, nearly $16,000 for fetal tissue that was to be implanted into mice for research into immune responses to drugs. (Goldstein, Cha and McGinley, 9/25)
Stat:
Trump Administration Launches Review Of Scientific Research Involving Fetal Tissue
The announcement follows the release of a letter sent earlier this month by 45 anti-abortion leaders to HHS Secretary Alex Azar, expressing outrage about the Food and Drug Administration’s contract and urging him to end government funding for fetal tissue research. In 2017, the National Institutes of Health spent roughly $98 million on the research. “The use of fetal tissue is important or even necessary for some kinds of work,” said Alta Charo, a bioethics professor from the University of Wisconsin who has defended fetal tissue research before Congress. Charo noted that research using fetal tissue led to the development of key vaccines and is now crucial to research on understanding how exposure to Zika virus during pregnancy causes birth defects. (Thielking, 9/25)
The Wall Street Journal:
Trump Administration Cancels Research Contract For Fetal Tissue
The action rekindles a longstanding and emotional debate over the use of fetal tissue in research. Conservative evangelical voters, who are among the GOP’s strongest supporters, strongly oppose the use of such tissue when it comes from abortions. Research groups, however, say the use of fetal tissue is vital to medical advances because it has qualities that adult tissue doesn’t have.The debate over abortion, they add, should be kept separate from the question of whether such tissue should be used. (Armour and Burton, 9/25)