NIH pledges not to renew grants for research using aborted babies

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced that it will not renew 17 grants for research that involves the use of human remains from aborted babies.

Key Takeaways:

• The NIH said it will not renew 17 grants for research that involves the use of tissue or body parts from aborted children.

• The White Coat Waste Project investigated NIH and discovered the 17 projects listed under "human fetal tissue."

• NIH responded to the investigation, saying that the grants would not be renewed.

• During Trump's first presidential term, taxpayer funding for experimental research using fetal tissue from aborted children was halted. The Biden administration reversed that decision.

The Details:

White Coat Waste Project (WCW) carried out an investigation that found that the NIH actively funds 17 projects that are listed under the "human fetal tissue" category, many of them green-lit by the Biden administration. The investigation was obtained by Breitbart News, which reached out to NIH for comment on Wednesday.

It responded saying, "NIH takes this issue very seriously and remains committed to the highest ethical standards in research. The referenced grants, initiated under the Biden administration, will not be renewed. NIH is guided by a commitment to valuing human life and ensuring that federally funded research is conducted responsibly and transparently. We are actively reviewing these matters and will take all necessary steps to ensure our policies reflect that commitment."

The 17 grants in question received nearly $22 million total in the 2024 fiscal year, according to NIH. One of those experiments included the implantation of hair from the scalps of aborted children onto mice.

Another experiment looked at how "mice were used to generate humanized BLT mice and housed according to UCLA Humanized Mouse Core Laboratory procedures."

The Backstory:

When Joe Biden took office in 2021, the NIH reversed a Trump administration decision to end taxpayer funding for experimental research using fetal tissue from aborted children. That Trump policy did not cancel existing research but caused a 50% decrease in NIH spending on research involving fetal tissue, according to an NIH report.

When Trump took office again in 2025, new Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he would bring back the Trump policy.