Statement from the Department of Health and Human Services

Today, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is directing HHS operating divisions and offices to align their research practices with NIH notice NOT-OD-26-028, NIH Policy on Research Involving Human Fetal Tissue (HFT). According to the notice, “NIH funds will not be permitted for research using HFT from elective abortions.”

This notice is consistent with this administration’s priorities to promote the dignity of human life and support gold-standard science. This statement and the NIH notice reverse the 2021 notice and supersede the 2019 statement and notice.

NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya also released a statement announcing the notice and the agency’s intention “that research supported by taxpayer funds is scientifically rigorous, ethically sound, and justified by a maximal return on the public’s investment.”

View the NIH notice.

Read the NIH Director’s Statement.

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