In the Press...
Washington Examiner article on Smith-Wicker letter to NIH Director Bhattacharya'Anti-abortion Republicans call on NIH to stop human embryonic stem cell research'By Gabrielle M. Etzel A coalition of anti-abortion legislators is calling for an end to human embryonic stem cell research at the National Institutes of Health, reviving a debate on the ethical use of aborted fetal materials in research after nearly two decades of inaction on the controversy. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), along with 16 other House members and five other senators, sent a letter on Friday to NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya asking NIH to halt the use of embryonic stem cells and fetal cell lines obtained through abortion procedures and instead use new alternative methods that have been pioneered in recent years. The letter from the coalition, obtained by the Washington Examiner, is in response to a Request for Information that the NIH disseminated in January, seeking public comment on emerging biotechnologies to reduce or replace reliance on human embryonic stem cells in biomedical research. During the RFI review period, the agency put a temporary pause on all new applications and approval of new stem cell lines to be added to the agency’s registry. The 23 cosigners called human embryonic stem cell research a “moral blot on the NIH” and asked the agency to “permanently end” all new applications for human embryonic stem cell lines, as well as completely stop funding for such research. “This research is unethical, it has not yielded good results, and there are ethical alternatives available that have already provided treatments and cures,” the coalition wrote. Human embryonic stem cell research has been a point of concern for anti-abortion advocates for decades because it involves the intentional destruction or death of human embryos. But major policy debates on the issue have been dormant since 2009, when former President Barack Obama signed an executive order removing barriers to human embryonic stem cell research established under the George W. Bush administration. More recently, there has been a renewed interest in questions regarding fetal or embryonic personhood, or when a developing human can be considered a so-called “full human” with recognizable rights, as part of debates over abortion and in vitro fertilization policy since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, eliminating federal protections for abortion. Fetal or embryonic personhood is at the core of the coalition’s argument in terminating human embryonic stem cell research. “It is repugnant to treat any human life as disposable for so-called ‘medical research purposes,’” the coalition wrote. “There is no such thing as a ‘spare’ human being, and the US government should not be facilitating or funding research that depends on killing and harvesting cells from human beings in their youngest form.” But the authors note that there has been remarkable progress in biotechnology development since 2009, with a variety of more ethical sources for experimentation. Recent advancements in adult stem cells from blood and bone marrow, for example, have resulted in novel treatments for a range of conditions from blood cancers to type 1 diabetes and neurological disorders. Umbilical cord blood and placental tissue, which used to be discarded as medical waste, have since the 2010s been used in treating more than 75 different diseases, according to the coalition’s letter, including leukemia, lymphoma, and sickle cell disease. There have also been advancements in what scientists call induced pluripotent stem cells, in which normal body cells are effectively “reprogrammed” to function the same as embryonic stem cells without involving human embryos. These three options, the authors of the letter argue, are not only more ethical but also more effective than human embryonic stem cells but have lacked NIH investment compared to less effective means. The coalition authors note that, between 2021 and 2024 alone, the NIH spent over $1.2 billion on human embryonic stem cell research “rather than focusing resources on more promising, less ethically compromised areas of research.” “The NIH should never have allowed research that relies upon and incentivizes the destruction of human life to be funded with billions of taxpayer dollars,” wrote Smith and his colleagues. “It certainly should refrain from continuing to do so, especially after that great expense has delivered so little benefit.” In the press release associated with the NIH’s RFI on embryonic stem cell research in January, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the move was intended to help the agency pursue “gold-standard science that delivers better results for patients.” “As new technologies prove more effective, we have a responsibility to move beyond practices becoming obsolete and invest in more promising alternatives,” Kennedy said in the statement. |