Trump admin ending $22 million in research using aborted baby parts

The Trump administration is moving to end federal research funding that uses tissue from aborted babies, halting $22 million in grants.

The National Institutes of Health has reportedly notified researchers that 17 grants initiated under the Biden administration will not be renewed.

“NIH takes this issue very seriously and remains committed to the highest ethical standards in research,” NIH said in an internal email. “The referenced grants, initiated under the Biden administration, will not be renewed. 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.”

David Prentice, former vice president and director of research at the Charlotte Lozier Institute, welcomed the news. 

“It will be good to see an end to antiquated, gruesome research and trafficking of baby body parts,” he wrote in a Life News column. “The nation’s medical research should be focused on ethical, proven, lifesaving science.” 

The decision marks a reversal of Biden-era policy. Soon after taking office in 2021, President Joe Biden’s administration removed all restrictions on fetal tissue research, cancelled reviews by an Ethics Advisory Board and disbanded the board. 

Biden Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said at the time he had “determined that there were no new ethical issues that require special review.” 

In contrast, the Trump administration in its first term had canceled a large fetal tissue research contract in 2019, placed limits on taxpayer funding and required an ethics review of proposals. In 2020, the board rejected all but one of 14 proposals. 

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pledged the administration would restore restrictions during his confirmation hearings. 

“Stem cell research today can be done on umbilical cords, and you don’t need fetal tissue,” he said. 

When asked by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, whether he would reinstate President Trump’s policy to block federal research on aborted fetal tissue, Kennedy responded, “Yes.” 

Meanwhile, lawmakers are advancing an alternative form of stem cell research. H.R. 5160, the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Reauthorization Act of 2025, has bipartisan support. The bill, led by Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, and Rep. Doris Matsui, D-California, continues funding for adult stem cell treatments. 

Physicians use adult stem cells from donors in transplants that can treat over 75 life-threatening conditions.