The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced that it will cancel a contract with researchers who were using the tissue of babies who were electively aborted.
This is a major win and welcome news for the pro-life community. The work of investigative reporter David Daleiden, who first highlighted Planned Parenthood’s practice of using aborted preborn remains for medical research and, allegedly, profit, is finally paying off nearly four years after the story first broke.
When the first video from Daleiden’s organization the Center for Medical Progress came out, people were shocked to see Planned Parenthood executives demonstrate such a callous disregard for life. Although the subject dominated much of the news cycle in the summer of 2015, there was little action taken on the use of preborn remains in medical experiments.
At long last, HHS decided not to continue funding its scientists working with preborn remains at the University of California San Francisco. Those organizations and scientists that apply for outside grants from HHS still may be eligible to receive aborted preborn tissue, but only after the grant requests are reviewed by an ethics panel. Also, the distribution of the tissue will receive extensive monitoring.
In a statement to the media, HHS said, “Promoting the dignity of human life from conception to natural death is one of the very top priorities of President Trump’s administration.”
This is a great first step, but more must be done. The use of preborn tissue from elective abortions is a non-starter for those of us in the pro-life community.
The Supreme Court recently upheld an Indiana law that required the remains of preborn babies be either buried or cremated, like any other human being. Hopefully, this HHS decision is a first step that will see the end of research with preborn remains and encourage scientists to utilize other tissue sources.
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