US Halts All NIH Funding for Research Using Abortion-Derived Fetal Tissue
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The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) will no longer fund scientific research that uses human fetal tissue from elective abortions. The agency announced the new ban on Thursday.
This tissue has been used in studies for diseases like diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and for vaccine development. The NIH is the world's largest public funder of biomedical research.
The move is the Trump administration's strongest action yet to stop this type of research. Anti-abortion advocates have long opposed it.
In 2019, the NIH stopped its own internal projects using the tissue and created a special review board for external scientists. President Joe Biden ended those rules in 2021. The new policy is a permanent funding ban.