Minnesota has long been at the center of the controversy surrounding the sale of parts and fetal tissues of aborted children. Planned Parenthood has been under Federal investigation over the sale of the tissue. Alpha News has earlier obtained invoices showing the University of Minnesota purchasing specific parts of aborted children via Advances Bioscience Resources Inc.
According to a statement from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released on June 5th, the contract between Advanced Bioscience Resources Inc. and the Food and Drug Administration which provided aborted fetal tissue for study has officially ended. The contract was terminated in September 2018 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and was granted 90-day extensions while under audit and review. The last extension ceased Wednesday the 5th.
As part of the contract the U.S. government provided funds to the University of California, San Fransisco for the purpose of researching potential curative methods derived from aborted fetal tissue. However, according to the June 5th statement the HHS “was not sufficiently assured that contract included the appropriate protections applicable to fetal tissue research or met all other procurement requirements.”
The statement goes on to say that “as a result, HHS also initiated a comprehensive 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 HHS did not state that it will deny all future research grant applications in the realm of fetal tissue research. Rather, “an ethics advisory board will be convened to review the research proposal and recommend whether, in light of the ethical considerations, NIH should fund the research project—pursuant to a law passed by Congress.” This provision does leave open the possibility of future fetal stem cell related research. However, the thorough vetting process would act as a definite obstacle to proposals for research similar to that previously conducted at the University of California, San Fransisco.
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Gabriel Kopp
Gabriel Kopp is a Twin Cities native and a student at Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, California, where he is studying Liberal Arts and Sciences. Gabriel served a year on NET Ministries following graduation from Providence Academy in Plymouth, MN in 2017.