Washington (AFP)
Donald Trump's government announced on Wednesday that it was putting an end to all medical research in federal centers on fetal tissue from abortions, gaining a major claim from anti-abortion activists in the United States.
The Department of Health announced in a statement that no more researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) could work on this type of tissue.
"Promoting the dignity of human life from conception to natural death is one of the top priorities of President Trump's administration," the ministry said.
In addition, the administration has indicated that it will not renew the $ 2 million per year public financing contract with the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) in 2013 for research on fetal tissue. These are used to develop new treatments for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
UCSF uses mice in which researchers implant fetal tissue to create a human-like immune system and test for potential antibodies against the virus.
An audit had been launched in September 2018 and since then, 90-day extensions of the contract with UCSF had been granted. The current expansion ran until Wednesday, and will not be renewed, said the Department of Health.
Publicly funded research projects in other universities or research centers will not be systematically excluded, but will now be subject to a new procedure involving an advisory ethics committee.
The decision was hailed by opponents of the right to abortion, who claim that this type of research is immoral and could encourage women to abort.
"Most Americans do not want their taxes to create a market for aborted baby parts that are then implanted into mice and used for experimentation," said the Walk for Life organization. According to her, researchers should focus on adult stem cells or umbilical cords.
But for many scientists, fetal tissue is essential for advanced research and has already led to many advances, including polio, rubella and rabies vaccines.
Stopping public funding "will destroy crucial research, slow down treatment for cancer, AIDS, dementia.By prohibiting fetal tissue is forbidding hope for millions of people suffering from disabling diseases", Lawrence Gostin, a professor of health law at Georgetown University in Washington, said on Twitter.
About 1.1 million people are living with HIV in the United States, where the annual number of infections has stagnated since 2013 at about 39,000 cases.
Current treatments, especially at an early stage, can prevent the virus from developing.
The government's decision came after the vote in several conservative states on highly restrictive abortion laws (abortion). The goal is to bring this sensitive issue back to the Supreme Court, which had legalized abortion in 1973, hoping for a turnaround of the Court's judges where the Conservatives now have a majority.
Donald Trump, a declared opponent of abortion, also wants to mobilize his electoral base strongly opposed to abortion while he will seek a second term in 2020.
? 2019 AFP