Anti-Abortion Videos Draw Scrutiny to Fetal Tissue Brokers
Covert videos released by an anti-abortion group have opened a window on a largely unknown corner of science: the middlemen who supply researchers with human fetal cells from elective abortions.
For decades, these typically small companies or nonprofits have been quietly processing human tissue and filling orders for fetal cells from scientists studying eye disease, HIV, autism and other conditions.
Now three players in the industry face unprecedented scrutiny. The secretly recorded videos raised questions about whether Planned Parenthood or any other entity was illegally profiting from the handling of fetal tissue.
Four congressional committees have begun holding hearings into the matter, and anti-abortion activists have targeted the tissue providers on the Internet. One of the tissue brokers faces a separate state inquiry in Arizona.
Source: Associated Press
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://naharnet.com/stories/en/189904 |