White House Defends Taxpayer-Funded Research on Fetal Tissue from Abortions After Catholic Bishops Protest

The White House defended its decision to lift restrictions on taxpayer-funded research using fetal tissue from abortions on Tuesday.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops condemned the practice in a statement, saying it is “unethical to promote and subsidize research that can lead to legitimizing the violence of abortion.”

Press secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden administration “respectfully disagrees” with the statement from the bishops during the daily press briefing at the White House.

“We believe that it’s important to invest in science and look for opportunities to cure diseases. And I think that’s what this is hopeful to do,” she said.

The statement from the bishops noted it is possible to do research without using harvested tissue from aborted babies. “It is also deeply offensive to millions of Americans for our tax dollars to be used for research that collaborates with an industry built on the taking of innocent lives,” the statement read.

The ban on research on tissue from aborted babies was implemented by former President Donald Trump.

President Joe Biden’s Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra announced the decision to reverse the restrictions earlier in April.