WASHINGTON, D.C., June 5, 2019—The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention applauded the news that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has terminated a major existing contact with the University of California San Francisco for the bone marrow, livers and thymuses of aborted babies.
The other aspects of the announcement include the discontinuing of intramural research conducted within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) involving the use of human fetal tissue from elective abortions; subjecting new extramural research—research conducted outside NIH at universities and other NIH grant recipients—to review by a new ethics advisory board; and funding and accelerating research to develop ethical alternatives to fetal tissue from elective abortions.
ERLC President, Russell Moore, responds to the announcement.
“I am glad that HHS has taken a significant step toward restoring medical ethics in research at NIH. The bodies of children are not resources to be harvested. We have learned troubling things in recent years about the relationship between the medical profession and the abortion industry. No government should exploit innocent human life as a means to an end for any purpose. I am grateful for this action.”
The full statement from HHS can be accessed here.
