The Trump administration announced that the federal government would sharply limit federal spending on medical research that uses tissue from aborted fetuses.
Trump called for the end of fetal-tissue research within the National Institutes of Health. Additionally, the Department of Health and Human Services said it would immediately cancel a $2 million-a-year contract started in 2013 with the University of California, San Francisco, for research involving fetal tissue from abortions.
The current research projects conducted at universities with N.I.H. grants will be allowed to continue until funding expires. Ethics advisory boards appointed by Alex Azar II will review and recommend whether to fund future individual projects involving aborted fetal tissue.
Researchers claim the new restrictions will devastate crucial medical research. Scientists are using fetal tissue to conduct research towards potentials cures for diseases such as cancer, HIV, Parkinson’s and dementia.