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Fetal Tissue Research: A Weapon and a Casualty in the War Against Abortion

Unlike embryonic stem cell research, which uses cells from days-old embryos created through in vitro fertilization, fetal tissue research uses tissue derived from induced abortion of pregnancies at or after the ninth week. (Fetal tissue obtained from a miscarriage is often not suitable for research purposes because of concerns about potential chromosomal abnormalities that led to the miscarriage.) Researchers most often acquire fetal tissue from a tissue bank or, sometimes, directly from a hospital or abortion clinic. Because it is not as developed as adult tissue and is able to adapt to new environments, fetal tissue is critical to the study of a wide variety of diseases and medical conditions…

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 Is It True That Perfumes Contain Aborted Fetal Tissue?

While claims that vaccines, foods and anti-ageing creams contain aborted fetus parts aren’t new, applying these claims to perfume is. But just as it is a lie to claim that vaccines contain fetal material, it’s likely a lie to claim that perfume does. There are two cell lines currently used to develop vaccines. The first, named WI-38, was developed in 1962 from the lung tissue of a fetus aborted at 3 months gestational age. The second, named MRC-5, was developed in 1966 from the lung tissue of a fetus aborted at 3.5 months gestational age. These cell lines have been propagated, kept frozen and are still used today. For more than 50 years, two abortions have allowed us to make vaccines against hepatitis A, rubella, shingles and other illnesses. It’s estimated that 11 million deaths have been prevented by vaccines made with just the WI-38 cell line.

Articles of Interest

Fetal Tissue Research: Enduring Controversy, New Contexts

Videos released in 2015 by the anti-abortion Center for Medical Progress (CMP) ignited a storm of controversy regarding fetal tissue research (FTR): the use, in various forms of biomedical research, therapeutics, and vaccine production, of tissues and organs from fetuses whose lives were ended through induced abortion

A guide to fetal tissue research: the controversy, the stakes, and the hunt for alternatives

Two weeks ago, Will Burlingham, a professor of transplantation at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, got a surprise call from the National Institutes of Health: Would he like a little extra money to create more laboratory mice? “It’s like Santa came early,” Burlingham told STAT. “We’ve been advised that we need to gear up and hire people.”

Biden Administration Overturns Trump-Era Ban On Fetal Tissue Research

Fetal tissue research has taken place since the 1930s and has been used in such historical medical breakthroughs as the development of the polio vaccine. The practice has become increasingly politicized in the wake of the landmark 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion, however, as well as an anti-abortion group’s 2015 release of deceptively edited videos that purported to show Planned Parenthood selling fetal tissue to medical groups.

Fetal cell lines make modern medicine possible

Human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK293) cells are one of the most widely used cell lines in research. Used in everything from cancer research and the development of new drugs to safety tests of chemicals, these cells are easy to manipulate and are immortal, meaning they can be grown and replicated in a lab indefinitely. HEK293 cells were collected in the 1970s from fetal tissue, either from an elective abortion or a miscarriage. The cells have been replicated many thousands of times, and several other useful cell lines have been derived from the original HEK293 cells.

Fetal Tissue Gives Hope for One of the Worst Diseases

Planned Parenthood is right to supply it.

Fetal tissue research gains in importance as roadblocks multiply

Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have spent years trying to unravel the details of Down syndrome: What happens inside the womb, how the genetic disorder alters the formation of neurons, and what specific processes affect brain development. The work can’t proceed without studying fetal tissue.

Henrietta Lacks Wasn’t the Only Woman Who Unknowingly Contributed to Medical History

After the abortion, her 8-inch-long, female fetus was taken without her knowledge and its lungs dissected at the famous Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. The tiny purplish organs were packed on ice and flown to the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, where a biologist named Leonard Hayflick cut them into innumerable pieces the size of match heads. Several lab-flask steps later, Hayflick had created the WI-38 cell line: a replicating group of normal human cells that, unlike other human cells then grown in the lab, did not become cancerous. That made them perfect vehicles for making vaccines against viruses like measles, rabies, and rubella. (Viruses can’t replicate outside cells, so vaccine-makers captured disease-causing viruses and grew them in lab-bottle cells—weakening the viruses enough that they didn’t cause disease when injected, or killing them outright before injecting them.

Here are the facts about fetal cell lines and COVID-19 vaccines

As more people apply for religious exemptions to vaccine mandates, experts explain how and why fetal cells are used in drug development, from vaccines to common pain medications.

History of Fetal Tissue Research and Transplants

Human fetal tissue research has gone on for decades. However, the success of fetal tissue transplants has been meager at best, and ethically-derived alternatives exist and are coming to dominate the field.

How fetal cells from the 1970s power medical innovation today

It is no secret that thousands of laboratories around the world use cells derived from a fetus that was aborted decades ago to develop vital medicines.

Human fetal tissue is critical for biomedical research

Human fetal tissue and cells derived from fetal tissue are crucial for biomedical research. Fetal tissues and cells are used to study both normal development and developmental disorders. They are broadly applied in vaccine development and production. Further, research using cells from fetal tissue is instrumental for studying many infectious diseases, including a broad range of viruses. These widespread applications underscore the value of fetal tissue research and reflect an important point: cells derived from fetal tissues have capabilities that cells from other sources do not.

I hated working with fetal tissue. But my research led to a breast cancer breakthrough.

I felt then, as now, that I was a soldier on the front line in science's war against dreaded diseases. For as long we live in a time when abortion isn't rare and in its wake there's useful material created that can save lives, then I believe it's essential we use it. Definitely.

Planned Parenthood And Fetal Tissue Sale: Manufactured Controversy And The Real Ethical Debate

Oct 13, 2015, Planned Parenthood announced it will maintain programs at some of its clinics that make fetal tissue available for research, but will no longer accept any reimbursement to cover the costs of those programs. That is the biggest legacy of this controversy.

Research Using Human Fetal Tissue

Research with human fetal tissue research has led to the development of a number of important research and medical advances, such as the development of polio vaccine. Fetal tissue has also been used to study the mechanism of viral infections and to diagnose viral infections and inherited diseases, as well as to develop transplant therapies for a variety of conditions, for example, parkinsonism. However, the use of fetal tissue for research purposes also raises a number of ethical considerations, including the degree to which a woman’s decision to have an abortion might be influenced by the opportunity to donate fetal tissue. Concerns have also been raised about potential conflict of interest when there is possible financial benefit to those who are involved in the retrieval, storage, testing, preparation, and delivery of fetal tissues.

Save Fetal Tissue Research, and Save Lives

Fetal tissue is a precious medical resource. It should be exploited for the many health benefits it can provide, not banned as part of a vicious, continuing assault on Planned Parenthood and the health services it provides to millions of women a year.

Scientists say fetal tissue remains essential for vaccines and developing treatments

University laboratories that buy such cells strongly defend their research, saying tissue that would otherwise be thrown out has played a vital role in lifesaving medical advances and holds great potential for further breakthroughs. Fetal cells are considered ideal because they divide rapidly, adapt to new environments easily and are less susceptible to rejection than adult cells when transplanted.

Stem cell research community drops 14-day limit on human embryo research

The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), which bills itself as “the voice of the stem cell research community,” has announced that it no longer endorses the prevailing international standard limiting human embryo research to 14 days after fertilization.

Synthetic human embryos could allow for research beyond the 14-day limit, but this raises ethical questions

Proponents of synthetic human embryo research beyond 14 days may argue for a different interpretation of the law and insist that synthetic human embryos are not “human embryos” as defined in the AHR Act. But this looks to be an impossible task.

The controversial cells that saved 10 million lives

Numerous vaccines are made using the cells, which were taken from a foetus in the 1960s. But their use has also created a moral dilemma.

The Planned Parenthood controversy over aborted fetus body parts, explained

Elective abortion has historically been a common source of fetal tissue — and that has raised a host of moral questions that divide the profession even today. Arthur Caplan, a bioethicist at New York University, previously described fetal tissue research as “the ticking time bomb of medical ethics.”

The Truth about Fetal Tissue Research

The use of aborted fetal tissue has sparked controversy in the U.S., but many scientists say it is essential for studies of HIV, development and more. “Using fetal tissue is not an easy choice, but so far there is no better choice,” says Su, who has tried, and failed, to make a humanized mouse with other techniques. “Many, many biomedical researchers depend on fetal tissue research to really save human lives,” he says. “And I think many of them feel the same way.”

Use of Fetal Tissue in Research Back in the Spotlight

One branch of science uses the tissue to study how the human body develops, in hopes of solving developmental abnormalities such as Down syndrome or malformations of the heart or lungs. Other researchers are experimenting with transplanting fetal cells into adults, with the aim of repairing damaged tissue or organ function. Human fetal cells obtained in the 1960s are still grown in labs and used as incubators to replicate viruses for the production of vaccines against chickenpox, rubella and hepatitis A. Scientists are exploring alternative technology that may lessen reliance on fetal tissue, but many say the tissue is still needed for some areas of study.

Why We Still Need Fetal-Tissue Research

Fetal tissue is valuable for medical research; the National Institutes of Health spent $76 million on fetal research in 2014, and fetal tissue has contributed to vaccines for polio, rubella and chicken pox. While recent efforts to transplant fetal tissue to treat conditions like Parkinson’s haven’t been as consistently successful, it’s still critical to scientific progress.

Resources

HeLa Cell Line

Scientists use immortal human cell lines in their research to investigate how cells function in humans. Though the HeLa cell line has contributed to many advancements in biomedical research since the twentieth century, its usage in medical research has been controversial because Lacks did not consent to having her cells used for such purposes. As of 2020, scientists continue to use the HeLa cell line for numerous scientific advancements, such as the development of vaccines and the identification of many underlying disease mechanisms.