HHS Bans Use of Fetal Tissue from Abortions in Research

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has officially prohibited the use of human fetal tissue obtained from elective abortions in taxpayer-funded research.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stated, “HHS will end the use of human fetal tissue obtained from elective abortions in agency-funded research and replace it with gold standard science. Science supports this change, ethics demands it, and we will apply this standard consistently across the faculty.”

Announced concurrently with the 53rd March for Life, this policy aligns with the priorities of the Trump administration, which aims to “protect the sanctity of human life and modernize biomedical science.” The new directive applies to grants, contracts, and programs across various departments.

According to HHS, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which allocates a significant portion of HHS medical research funding, has adopted this policy. The changes impact both intramural research and extramural research supported by the NIH, including various agreements and development projects. This decision overrides previous NIH guidance, reflecting a transition to research models that better suit today’s evolving scientific landscape, including innovations in organoids, tissue chips, and computational biology.

NIH Director Jay Bhattacharyya commented that, “NIH is moving American biomedicine into the 21st century. This decision is designed to advance science by investing in breakthrough technologies that can better model human health and disease. Under President Trump’s leadership, taxpayer-funded research must reflect today’s best science and the values of the American people.”

As reported, HHS had 77 NIH-funded projects utilizing human fetal tissue for the fiscal year 2024. However, this number has reportedly been decreasing since 2019.

In 2019, during Trump’s initial term, he imposed a ban on new funding for fetal tissue research, which included an end to all NIH studies using tissue from aborted infants. The Biden administration, upon taking office in 2021, reversed this decision, allowing taxpayer funding for experimental research involving fetal tissue.

Following Trump’s re-election, Secretary Kennedy pledged to restore the earlier ban during his Senate confirmation hearing.

Reports suggest that this new ban may impose even stricter limitations than those set during Trump’s first term.

In summary, the new policy signifies a substantial shift in funding practices for biomedical research, focusing on ethical considerations and modern scientific advancements.