White Coat Waste Project (WCW) found that the nation’s medical research agency is still actively funding 17 projects listed under the “human fetal tissue” category — many projects which appear to have been green-lit by the Biden administration and are slated to continue through next year. The investigation, first obtained by Breitbart News, comes as Republicans work to include a measure in a spending bill for the 2026 fiscal year defunding research using human fetal tissue obtained in abortions.
The NIH responded to Breitbart’s request for comment on Wednesday, saying that it is also “actively reviewing” its policy.
“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,” the agency said via email. “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.”
During President Donald Trump’s first term in 2019, he banned new funding for fetal tissue research and ended all in-house NIH research using the body parts of aborted babies. According to WCW, the policy did not cancel existing projects but ultimately correlated with a 50 percent decrease in NIH spending on fetal tissue to date.
When the rabidly pro-abortion Biden administration took over in 2021, the NIH, under the authority of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced its reversal of the Trump administration’s decision to end taxpayer funding for experimental research that uses fetal tissue derived from aborted babies.
After President Trump was reelected for his second term, now-HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pledged at his Senate confirmation hearings to revive the ban.
The 17 active grants received almost $22 million combined in the 2024 fiscal year, according to WCW, which describes itself as a “bipartisan government watchdog” whose mission is to “expose and close the U.S. government’s $20 billion animal testing business.”
WCW pointed out that many of the grants have funded experiments on animals implanted with body parts from aborted babies. An HIV-related experiment funded by one of the grants details implanting human fetal tissue into mice.
“Human fetal tissue was purchased from Advanced Bioscience Resources or Cercle Allocation Services and was obtained without identifying information and did not require IRB approval for its use,” reads the “Study Approval” section of the experiment.
The study discusses how researchers “constructed humanized bone marrow–liver–thymus (BLT) NSG mice,” and notes how “human fetal liver — derived CD34+ cells were purified by immunomagnetic separation… On the day of transplant… mice… underwent transplantation of transduced CD34+ cells… and liver and thymus tissue under the kidney capsule; the tissue was from the same donor as the CD34+ cells.”
Another experiment discusses how “mice were used to generate humanized BLT mice and housed according to UCLA Humanized Mouse Core Laboratory procedures.”
“Human fetal thymus and fetal liver were obtained from Advanced Bioscience Resources (ABR),” the study reads. “Fetal tissues were obtained without patient identifying information. Written informed consent was obtained from patients for the use of tissues for research purposes.”
While waiting for regulatory action, Republican lawmakers are working on their end to defund research using human fetal tissue from abortions. On Sept. 9, the House Appropriations Committee its FY26 NIH spending bill, which defunds all human fetal tissue research (). It reads: “None of the funds provided in this Act may be used to conduct or support research using human fetal tissue if such tissue is obtained pursuant to an induced abortion.”
Rep. Robert Onder (R-MO) also introduced a bill in March, the “Protecting Life and Integrity in Research Act of 2025,” which similarly would prohibit the federal government from conducting or supporting any research involving human fetal tissue obtained from abortions.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
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