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National Institutes of Health Reverses Trump-Era Fetal Tissue Requirements: Will No Longer Convene NIH Human Fetal Tissue Research Ethics Advisory Board

Apr 16, 2021 | 2021 Press Releases, Press Releases, Press Room

WASHINGTON – Late Friday, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reversed a Trump-era decision to have all extramural research involving fetal tissue undergo review by an independent advisory board.

The National Right to Life Committee criticized today’s actions by the Biden administration to exploit the deaths of unborn babies who are killed by abortion by allowing research using fetal tissue to move forward.

“We condemn this sickening decision by the Biden administration,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “Tiny human babies are aborted by abortionists and then exploited to be farmed for their organs and tissue for use in experiments.”

Tobias continued, “The Biden administration and HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra have dismantled the process of making researchers meet any ethical standards when it comes to harvesting the body parts of aborted children for research.”

In 2019, HHS had announced that it would no longer use fetal tissue in internal research and would promote alternatives to such research. In 2020, under the Trump administration, any proposed fetal tissue research was reviewed by an independent NIH Human Fetal Tissue Research Ethics Advisory Board.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of 50 state right-to-life affiliates and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, NRLC works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide, and euthanasia.