{"id":294036,"date":"2023-07-02T11:27:20","date_gmt":"2023-07-02T16:27:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=294036"},"modified":"2023-06-30T00:25:24","modified_gmt":"2023-06-30T05:25:24","slug":"pennsylvania-lawmakers-block-funding-pitt-fetal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/pennsylvania-lawmakers-block-funding-pitt-fetal\/","title":{"rendered":"Pennsylvania lawmakers block funding for U Pitt over research using fetal body parts"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Pennsylvania Republicans successfully blocked funding for the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) on Monday after a failed attempt last year over concerns about the school\u2019s research using fetal body parts.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the <\/span>Philadelphia Inquirer<\/span><\/a>, Temple University\u2019s funding was also blocked while Republicans declined to vote on Penn State but expressed concerns as the quasi-public university faces controversy over its \u201cgender-affirming care\u201d for minors. Funding for state-related universities like Pitt, Temple, Penn State, and Lincoln requires approval by two-thirds majority in both chambers of the legislature.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Pitt has long faced scrutiny from pro-life advocates and was the subject of a contentious hearing in 2021 over its fetal tissue research. Pitt and others\u2019 \u201cstate-related\u201d status allows them to avoid the full weight of public records laws, but some information has been revealed \u2013 and it\u2019s gruesome.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Center for Medical Progress (CMP) was able to obtain Pitt\u2019s application for federal funding of its GUDMAP program. In it, the school <\/span>stated<\/span><\/a> its interest in “develop[ing] a pipeline to the acquisition, quality control and distribution of human genitourinary [urinary and genital organs and functions] samples obtained throughout development (6-42 weeks gestation).”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Language in the application prompted <\/span>federal lawmakers<\/span><\/a> to suggest the university might be violating anti-trafficking laws, something it has denied. It\u2019s also denied that organs were extracted from live fetuses, although multiple physicians and experts <\/span>have said<\/span><\/a> the university\u2019s statements pointed to just that.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The issue is unresolved, as the Biden administration has <\/span>seemed uninterested<\/span><\/a> in investigating Pitt\u2019s problematic statements. Last year, it deferred to a <\/span>highly criticized<\/span><\/a> investigation in which Pitt\u2019s law firm said it was in compliance with federal and state law. Surrounding the investigation were concerns about conflicts of interest and the fact that Pitt\u2019s law firm wouldn\u2019t look into the university\u2019s medical center, where the abortions in question were thought to take place.<\/span><\/p>\n

CMP has released a video on other aspects of Pitt\u2019s research, including a study that involved grafting fetal scalps onto rodents. Former University of Pittsburgh Medical Center therapist Ryan Navarro has said that he <\/span>resigned<\/span><\/a> after reading about that particular experiment.<\/span><\/p>\n