No Mincing Words

From the February 26, 2000, edition of National Journal

"Medical researchers don't just order 'fetal tissue' from providers - - they order arm bones, leg bones, livers, spleens, whole eyes and other organs. And, despite a congressional prohibition against a money-making marketplace for fetal tissue, there are indications that just such a marketplace has developed - - that companies are selling fetal parts for a profit. ...

"[M]edical researchers don't mince words when placing orders from abortion clinics.

'Arm bones [humeri] must accompany the leg bones [femurs and tibias],' says an order for three to five bones, plus livers, spleens, and thymuses from fetuses older than 18 weeks. The order came from SyStemix Inc., a Palo Alto, Calif., subsidiary of Novartis of Switzerland. The order forms also include many requests from universities, including a request for 'whole eyes, 13-20 weeks, 1-2 per donor, fresh' from the Tulane University School of Medicine, which was researching eye surgery.

"The price list offered by tissue broker Opening Lines, in West Frankfort, Ill., was similarly straightforward: 'Brain [younger than] 8 weeks 30% discount if significantly fragmented $999...Eyes [older than] 8 weeks 40% discount for single eye $50. ...Prices in effect through December 31, 1999.' Anatomic Gift Foundation, in Laurel, Md., charged a flat fee of $90 for every organ or slice of tissue taken during a second-trimester abortion, or $220 for those taken from a fetus 6 weeks to 12 weeks old."