85 Members of Congress Ask FDA to Cancel Contract Purchasing Aborted Baby ‘Tissue’ for Research

85 members of Congress have signed a joint letter urging the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to cancel its contract with a biomedical procurement company to purchase “fetal tissue” that will be used to create mice with a human immune system in order to test drug safety and efficacy.

“Unborn children are not commodities to be bought and sold,” the letter reads. “The practice of conducting research using the body parts of children whose lives have been violently ended by abortion is abhorrent.”

As previously reported, the FDA had posted a pre-solicitation notice in June outlining its intentions to contract with Advanced Bioscience Resources to obtain what it called “fetal tissue” for research.

The FDA’s contract with ABR went into effect on July 25, according to information on the General Services Administration website, and will run for one year. The FDA is paying ABR $15,900 for the remains of unborn babies, referred to as “human fetal tissue,” for the research endeavor. ABR says that it obtains its “tissue” from first and second trimester abortions, as well as full-term deliveries.

Signers of the correspondence include Reps. Chris Smith, R-NJ; Dr. Ralph Abraham, R-LA; Dr. Roger Marshall, R-KS; Tim Walberg, R-MI; Kristi Noem, R-SD; Sean Duffy, R-WI; Pete Olson, R-TX; Daniel Webster, R-FL; Dr. Andy Harris, R-MD; Dr. Larry Bucshon, R-IN; Claudia Tenney, R-NY; and Bob Goodlatte, R-VA.

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