Opinion: The pillorying of Planned Parenthood

SHARE Opinion: The pillorying of Planned Parenthood

Hidden camera videos of Planned Parenthood doctors agreeing to supply fetal tissue from abortion patients who want it used for research have shocked many. A new video released Tuesday includes graphic footage of clinic staff analyzing fetal body parts.

OPINION

As a medical ethicist and lawyer, the headlines concerned me. But after scrutinizing hours of video, it appears Planned Parenthood doctors are complying with federal law allowing “reasonable payments” for collection of fetal tissue. As the organization’s senior director of medical services explains in the unedited version of her videotaped meeting with people posing as members of the research community, abortion clinics “want to offer this service because patients ask about it. … just as much as the patients, the providers absolutely want to help [medical research].”

Anti-abortion advocates have jumped on these tapes, using them to make their latest argument that Congress should stop funding Planned Parenthood. I disagree. These tapes provide no new evidence for that unworthy cause.

But they do raise another, important question that has nothing to do with Planned Parenthood: Should Congress stop funding medical research using fetal tissue?

If the public wants this research to continue — work scientists hope will save lives and improve health — then it’s unfair to pillory the doctors who perform abortions for supplying the underlying research material.

In 2014 the National Institutes of Health awarded the country’s top universities and hospitals $76 million for 164 research projects categorized as human fetal tissue research. But the reaction to these videos suggests many of us were unaware this research is happening.

Maybe that’s because the debate about whether patients should be allowed to donate unwanted embryos created during infertility treatment was more visible and more recent — in 2009 President Obama allowed federal funding for research on those embryos. But scientists have been doing research on fetal tissue since the 1930s. Fetal cells obtained after abortion have contributed to vaccine development. In 1988 President Reagan prohibited federal funding for one type of fetal tissue research, known as transplant. (For example, putting it directly in the brains of adults with Parkinson’s Disease). In 1992 President Clinton reversed that decision.

Fetal and embryo research have certain things in common. In both situations, the women and couples who created the embryo or fetus first decide not to continue its development. Then they decide that instead of just destroying that tissue, they’d like to contribute it to science.

But these two types of tissue differ in other ways. Frozen embryos created through infertility treatment exist in laboratories, and won’t result in live birth unless people make an affirmative choice to put them in their bodies. Fetuses exist inside bodies, and will result in live birth unless people make an affirmative choice to end their pregnancies. Another difference is age. Embryos used in stem cell research are typically under 6 days old. The tissue discussed in these videos is acquired at a gestational age of 9 weeks and higher.

Do these differences in location, action, and age mean we should have different policies on research using embryonic tissue and fetal tissue? That’s the conversation these videos should inspire.

If the American people decide the benefits of fetal tissue research aren’t worth the costs, Congress should ban this science. Or, if we decide the benefits are worth it, we have to make our peace with the fact that abortion clinics are virtually the only place this tissue can come from.

But enjoying the medical benefits of fetal tissue research while spurning those who make it possible is the height of hypocrisy.

Katie Watson, a lawyer, is an assistant professor in the Medical Humanities & Bioethics Program at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University.

Follow the Editorial Board on Twitter: Follow @CSTeditorials

Tweets by @CSTeditorials

The Latest
Despite getting into foul trouble, which limited him to just six minutes in the second half, Shannon finished with 29 points, five rebounds and two assists.
Cowboy hats, bell-bottoms and boots were on full display Thursday night as fans lined up for the first of his three sold-out shows.
The incident occurred about 3:40 p.m. near Minooka. The horse was successfully placed back into the trailer, and the highway reopened about 40 minutes later. No injuries were reported.
The Hawks conceded the game’s only two goals within the first seven minutes and were shut out for the 12th time this season in a 2-0 defeat Thursday.