For Immediate Release: June 5, 2019
Donna Harrison, MD, CEO, American Association of Pro-life Ob-Gyns
donna@aaplog.org
The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG) applauded the announcement by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Trump Administration that, after careful review, they have changed its policy and will not be renewing an NIH grant to the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) to allow research using fetal tissue from elective abortions. Nor will any future NIH grants be approved or renewed in furtherance of research conducted that uses or implements human fetal tissue.
“The protection and care of human life by physicians and researchers must exist at all stages life from conception to natural death. Today’s decision by the Trump administration is another clear example of the administration’s consistent protection of human life, regardless of location or age,” said Dr. Donna Harrison, AAPLOG. “The scientific reality is that a new human being is present in the womb of a pregnant mother. AAPLOG applauds cutting off the tax payer subsidies to the abortion industry which occurs when researchers pay for the body parts of human beings killed in abortion.”
In its public statement regarding this change, HHS stated:
“Promoting the dignity of human life from conception to natural death is one of the very top priorities of President Trump’s administration. The audit and review helped inform the policy process that led to the administration’s decision to let the contract with UCSF expire and to discontinue intramural research – research conducted within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) – involving the use of human fetal tissue from elective abortion. Intramural research that requires new acquisition of fetal tissue from elective abortions will not be conducted.”
AAPLOG holds the long-standing scientific understanding that the unborn child is a human being from the time of fertilization. We believe elective disruption or abortion of human life at any time from fertilization onward constitutes the willful destructions of an innocent human being, and that this procedure will have no place in our practice of the healing arts. Further, we are deeply concerned about the profound, adverse effects of elective abortion, not just on women, but also on the entire involved family, and on our society at large.
Life. It’s why we are here.
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