Donald Trump’s government this month cut all funding for research that uses human fetal tissue derived from abortions. The measure now applies to projects that were previously funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
According to a statement from the NIH, the new ban ends support for all “grants, cooperative agreements, other transactional awards, and research and development contracts.”
In a separate note, the agency’s director, Jay Bhattacharya, said that the cut will lead the US to seek alternatives that are more connected to the advancement of science. “This decision aims to advance science through investment in innovative technologies that are better able to model human health and disease,” he stated.
In 2019, during his first term, Trump had already ordered a ban on the use of human fetal tissue in research, a measure that was reversed by his successor, Joe Biden, in 2021, who restored funding and allowed scientists to conduct research using human tissue resulting from abortions to study and develop treatments for different diseases.
The measure is seen as an important victory for anti-abortion groups.
