Bill Summary
The "Protecting Life and Integrity in Research Act of 2025" is a piece of legislation aimed at prohibiting the federal government from conducting or supporting any research that involves human fetal tissue obtained from induced abortions. Key provisions of the bill include:
1. **Prohibition of Research**: It explicitly bans federal departments and agencies from conducting, funding, or approving research involving fetal tissue derived from induced abortions.
2. **Ethical Alternatives**: The bill allows for the development of new ethical cell lines that are not derived from fetal tissue obtained through induced abortions, thereby promoting alternative research avenues.
3. **Permitted Research After Miscarriage or Stillbirth**: Research on fetal tissue obtained after a miscarriage or stillbirth is permissible, provided it adheres to existing regulations under the Public Health Service Act.
4. **Amendments to Existing Laws**: The Act amends the Public Health Service Act to define human fetal tissue more clearly and to limit research specifically to tissue obtained after miscarriages or stillbirths.
5. **Prohibition on Solicitation**: It prohibits the solicitation or acceptance of donations of fetal tissue if it is known to have been obtained through an induced abortion.
Overall, the legislation seeks to restrict the use of fetal tissue from induced abortions in federal research while allowing for the study of tissue derived from miscarriages and stillbirths.
Possible Impacts
The "Protecting Life and Integrity in Research Act of 2025" could affect people in various ways. Here are three examples:
1. **Impact on Medical Research**: The prohibition on using human fetal tissue obtained from induced abortions could slow the progress of research in certain medical fields, such as regenerative medicine, vaccine development, and treatments for diseases. Researchers who depend on this tissue for studies may face limitations that could hinder advancements in understanding diseases and developing new therapies, ultimately affecting patients who could benefit from these innovations.
2. **Access to Alternative Treatments**: With the legislation restricting the use of fetal tissue from abortions, researchers and pharmaceutical companies may be forced to invest in the development of alternative methods or cell lines. This could lead to longer timelines for the development of new treatments, potentially limiting patients' access to effective therapies that rely on fetal tissue-derived research, particularly for conditions where such tissue has historically provided critical insights.
3. **Ethical and Emotional Implications for Families**: For families who experience miscarriage or stillbirth, the legislation may bring ethical and emotional complexities regarding the use of fetal tissue in research. While the bill allows research on tissue obtained after these events, families may have concerns about how their loss is being utilized, potentially leading to discomfort or opposition to such practices. This could influence public perception and individual choices around medical research involving fetal tissue.
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2075 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2075
To prohibit the Federal Government from conducting or supporting any
research involving human fetal tissue that is obtained pursuant to an
induced abortion, and to prohibit the solicitation or knowing
acquisition, receipt, or acceptance of a donation of such tissue.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 11, 2025
Mr. Onder (for himself, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Latta, Mr. Kelly
of Mississippi, Mrs. Miller of Illinois, Mr. Harris of Maryland, Mr.
Green of Tennessee, Mr. LaMalfa, Mr. Grothman, Mr. Cloud, Mr. Self, Mr.
Weber of Texas, Mr. Stauber, Mr. Ellzey, Mr. Ezell, Mr. Guest, Mr.
Burchett, Mr. Crane, Mr. Fallon, Mrs. Biggs of South Carolina, Mr.
Palmer, Mr. Biggs of Arizona, Ms. Greene of Georgia, and Mr.
Fleischmann) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit the Federal Government from conducting or supporting any
research involving human fetal tissue that is obtained pursuant to an
induced abortion, and to prohibit the solicitation or knowing
acquisition, receipt, or acceptance of a donation of such tissue.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Life and Integrity in
Research Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. NO RESEARCH INVOLVING HUMAN FETAL TISSUE OBTAINED PURSUANT TO
AN INDUCED ABORTION.
(a) In General.--
(1) In general.--No Federal department, agency, or office
may conduct, fund, approve, or otherwise support any research
involving human fetal tissue that is obtained pursuant to an
induced abortion.
(2) Development of new, ethical cell lines.--Subsection (a)
does not limit the authority of any Federal department, agency,
or office to develop or support the development of new, high-
efficiency cell lines, including for the production of vaccines
and genetic vectors, so long as the cell lines are not derived
from human fetal tissue that is obtained pursuant to an induced
abortion.
(3) Research involving human fetal tissue obtained after a
miscarriage or stillbirth permitted.--Any research of any
Federal department, agency, or office on human fetal tissue
obtained after a miscarriage or stillbirth shall be conducted
or supported in accordance with section 498A of the Public
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 289g-1).
(b) Amendments to the PHSA Limiting Human Fetal Tissue Research to
Tissue Obtained After a Miscarriage or Stillbirth.--Section 498A of the
Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 289g-1) is amended--
(1) in the section heading, by striking ``transplantation
of fetal tissue'' and inserting ``human fetal tissue obtained
after a miscarriage or stillbirth'';
(2) by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
``(a) Establishment of Program.--The Secretary may conduct or
support research on human fetal tissue obtained after a miscarriage or
a stillbirth.'';
(3) in subsection (b)--
(A) in paragraph (1)(B), by inserting ``if the
human fetal tissue is intended for transplantation,''
before ``the donation''; and
(B) in paragraph (2)--
(i) by striking subparagraph (A); and
(ii) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) and
(C) as (A) and (B), respectively;
(4) in subsection (c)(1)(B), by striking ``pursuant to a
spontaneous or induced abortion or pursuant to'' and inserting
``after a miscarriage or''; and
(5) by amending subsection (g) to read as follows:
``(g) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Human fetal tissue.--The term `human fetal tissue'
means tissue or cells obtained from a dead unborn child
pursuant to an induced abortion, a miscarriage, or a
stillbirth.
``(2) Miscarriage.--The term `miscarriage' means the
involuntary death of an unborn child who was carried in the
womb for a period of less than 20 weeks.
``(3) Stillbirth.--The term `stillbirth' means the
involuntary death of an unborn child who was carried in the
womb for a period of 20 weeks or more.
``(4) Unborn child.--The term `unborn child' has the
meaning given such term in section 1841(d) of title 18, United
States Code.''.
(c) Conforming Repeal.--Section 113 of the National Institutes of
Health Revitalization Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 289g-1 note) is repealed.
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION AGAINST SOLICITATION OR KNOWING ACQUISITION,
RECEIPT, OR ACCEPTANCE OF A DONATION OF HUMAN FETAL
TISSUE KNOWING THAT THE TISSUE WAS OBTAINED PURSUANT TO
AN INDUCED ABORTION.
(a) In General.--Section 498B(c)(1) of the Public Health Service
Act (42 U.S.C. 289g-2(c)(1)) is amended to read as follows:
``(1) solicit or knowingly acquire, receive, or accept a
donation (excluding any transfer for purposes of autopsy or
burial) of human fetal tissue knowing that--
``(A) a human pregnancy was deliberately initiated
to provide such tissue; or
``(B) the tissue was obtained pursuant to an
induced abortion; or''.
(b) Conforming Changes.--Section 498B of the Public Health Service
Act (42 U.S.C. 289g-2), as amended by subsection (a), is further
amended--
(1) by striking subsection (b);
(2) by redesignating subsections (c) through (e) as
subsections (b) through (d), respectively; and
(3) in subsection (c), as redesignated--
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``(a), (b), or
(c)'' and inserting ``(a) or (b)''; and
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``or (b)(3)''.
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