The University of Pittsburgh has hired Washington D.C. law firm Hyman, Phelps & McNamara to conduct an independent review of its research involving the bodies of aborted children. After the firm conducts its review, it will reportedly present its findings to the University’s senior leadership.
Explaining the reason for its actions, the university said it has taken this “proactive step to ensure that it is positioned to continue leading the way — scientifically, legally and ethically — in practicing and advancing lifesaving research.” Despite the university’s claim that its fetal experiments are “subject to robust internal controls and highly regulated at the state and federal level,” its research practices have raised numerous ethical concerns.
Last month, the Center for Medical Progress and Judicial Watch released public records from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), showing the university likely harvested organs from born-alive infants.
READ: Jewish pro-life group calls out ‘Mengele research’ at University of Pittsburgh
In 2015, the university submitted a $3 million grant application to NIH to become a “fetal distribution hub” for the GenitoUrinary Developmental Molecular Anatomy Project (GUDMAP). Within the application, the university claimed that during the process of harvesting aborted body parts, “Ischemia time is minimized.” The NIH said this refers to “the time a tissue, organ, or body part remains at body temperature after its blood supply has been reduced or cut off but before it is cooled or reconnected to a blood supply.”
According to multiple OB/GYNS, including Dr. Ronna Jurow, who previously worked at Planned Parenthood and considers herself “pro-choice,” there is “no question” this means infants were alive when their organs were harvested.
The report, sadly, is unsurprising, as Live Action News has previously documented the university’s history of experimenting on abortion survivors.
In the NIH grant application, the university also stated its fetal harvesting program would feature “Inclusion (or exclusion) of individuals on the basis of sex/gender, race, and ethnicity,” setting a quota to obtain a large number of preborn children from minority populations.
As Fox News reported, the University of Pittsburgh claimed that it targeted Black women and their children for research purposes because this population is most impacted by kidney disease. This explanation, however, is a poor justification for categorizing an entire group of human beings as experimental fodder.
The report is also not the first time CMP has alerted the public to the university’s questionable and potentially illegal practices. In 2014, pro-life journalist David Daleiden uncovered what appears to be an illegal quid pro quo between the university and Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania.
As the Center for Medical Progress noted, PPWP abortionists supply the aborted children in exchange for the University of Pittsburgh sponsoring its operations. The fact that many Planned Parenthood abortionists sit on the university’s OB-GYN faculty only makes the alleged procurement relationship between the two parties all the more likely.
The result of Hyman, Phelps & McNamara’s review remains to be seen, and it is unknown if public officials will also take significant action to hold the university accountable. The University of Pittsburgh needs to answer for its unethical practices involving aborted body parts.
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