The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced that the Trump administration is halting fetal tissue research conducted by government scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (Statement from the Department of Health and Human Services, 5 Jun 2019). Although university-led research projects funded by the US government that involve fetal tissues will not be affected and the research can continue until the funding expires, new restrictions have been put in place for new grant applications or renewal applications for academic researchers that seek funding from the NIH for projects that involve the use of fetal tissues from elective abortions, and an ethics advisory board will review the proposals and recommend whether to fund any future projects (
Nature
, 5 Jun 2019;
Science
, 5 Jun 2019).
In 2018, the HHS initiated a review “of all HHS research involving human fetal tissue from elective abortions to ensure consistency with statutes and regulations governing such research, and to ensure the adequacy of procedures and oversight of this research in light of the serious regulatory, moral, and ethical considerations involved.” The government now announced that it will end funding of medical research by government scientists using fetal tissue and will not extend its contract with a research laboratory at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) (
The New York Times
, 5 Jun 2019). In a response to the administration’s actions on fetal tissue research, UCSF Chancellor Sam Hawgood says that UCSF strongly opposes the decision and that the “action ends a 30-year partnership with the NIH to use specially designed models that could be developed only through the use of fetal tissue to find a cure for HIV” (UCSF, 5 Jun 2019).
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