Editor’s note: The letter published here is from six scientists at the Medical College of Wisconsin who write in support of Assembly Bill 305, the fetal body parts bill being considered by the state Legislature.
Unprecedented attention has been given to Assembly Bill 305 in the Wisconsin Legislature that would restrict the use of abortion-derived fetal tissue for research.
Opponents of the bill, including those in biomedical research, have openly shared arguments against such restrictions. However, we, who are also scientists and doctors, do not share this view. We do not agree that research using human fetal or embryonic tissue from abortions or procedures such as IVF is ethical or a requisite approach for advancing scientific inquiry or preventing suffering.