LifeNews.com
Pro-Life Senators Want to Stop Using Aborted Babies for Research
By Grace Porto | Washington, DC
Pro-life senators this week reintroduced legislation that would ban trafficking aborted children’s body parts and forbid the government from promoting research on fetal tissue from abortions.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., and Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., on March 12 brought back the Protecting Life and Integrity in Research Act, Kennedy’s website reports.
The act would prevent all federal departments, agencies, and offices from approving, conducting, or funding research that involves tissues from aborted children.
It would also create a full ban on soliciting or accepting tissue that was taken from an unborn baby after an induced abortion.
“There are ethical and scientifically valid ways to conduct fetal tissue research without relying on the body parts of aborted babies,” Hyde-Smith stated. “Yet, the federal government currently spends millions of our taxpayer dollars each year funding research that uses tissue from abortions, furthering the dehumanizing practice of fetal tissue trafficking.”
The legislation would not ban stem cell research on non-fetal stem cells. Hyde-Smith’s website stated that researchers used non-fetal cells to develop insulin to treat diabetes and Herceptin for breast cancer. It also states that blood from umbilical cords has treated thousands with blood disorders, and adult stem cells have saved the lives of more than one million people.
Hyde-Smith’s website further reports that in 2023, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) spent $53 million on human fetal tissue research. They expect to spend $55 million in 2025.
“The creation of a taxpayer-funded marketplace for babies lost to abortion is a monstrous, barbaric practice from the start. Every baby, even those lost to abortion, deserves to be treated with human decency and respect — not like science experiments,” said Rep. Bob Onder, R. Mo., who introduced the legislation to the House. “I’m proud to introduce this legislation to put that practice to an end.”