The National Institutes of Health is rolling back the Trump administration’s limits on fetal tissue research, a practice that anti-abortion advocates have long pushed to end.
The agency announced its change Friday in a reversal of former President Donald Trump’s directive to restrict the use of human fetal tissue derived from elective abortions.
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“This notice informs the extramural research community that HHS is reversing its 2019 decision that all research applications for NIH grants and contracts proposing the use of human fetal tissue from elective abortions will be reviewed by an Ethics Advisory Board,” a National Institutes of Health notice read.
A handful of House Democrats urged Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to reverse Trump’s restrictions.
“The previous administration’s restrictions on fetal tissue research continue to threaten scientific and medical advances by blocking intramural researchers from using the material and discouraging extramural researchers from pursuing research with it,” the lawmakers wrote Tuesday. “The Trump administration’s policy was politically motivated and unnecessary.”
In 2018, a coalition of anti-abortion advocates urged the Department of Health and Human Services to end federally funded fetal tissue research, citing ethics concerns.
Under the Trump administration, the National Institutes of Health offered grants to organizations that would find alternatives to fetal tissue research.
Conservative groups and some Republican members criticized the decision to restart the practice.
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“No taxpayer dollars should be used to buy aborted baby body parts,” tweeted Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. “In fact, this practice (which the Biden admin would love to spend big on) should be ended immediately. The American people would be outraged if they knew this was happening with their hard earned dollars.”
