‘We shouldn’t need to clarify in law that creating animal-human hybrids or “chimeras” is ethically unthinkable, but sadly the need for that very clear distinction has arrived,’ said Senator James Lankford
WASHINGTON, D.C. June 14, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – The U.S. Senate has passed a bill which will allocate billions of dollars to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), with some of the funds expected to go toward a disturbing form of research whereby tissue from aborted babies is spliced with animal cells to create mixed-species organisms called “chimeras.”
Introduced by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York), the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA), also called the “Endless Frontier Act,” was passed by the Senate in a 68-32 vote June 9.
Supposed to address growing Chinese technological competition by increasing investment in American innovation in science and technology to the tune of $250 billion, the bill had been hotly debated on the Senate floor for weeks, with over 600 amendments being proposed before last week’s vote.
Although the measure passed with significant bipartisan support, it had drawn fire from Senate Republicans concerned about the possible ethical implications of some of the bill’s intended spending.
One of their concerns had to do with the bill’s proposed funding for the National Institutes of Health, which has long considered lifting its moratorium on conducting chimeric experiments pending new guidelines from the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR).
In response to concern that the NIH will shortly lift its stay on the unethical research, Senators Mike Braun, Steve Daines, and James Lankford proposed an amendment to the bill which would criminalize the creation of animal-human hybrid organisms.
“We shouldn’t need to clarify in law that creating animal-human hybrids or ‘chimeras’ is ethically unthinkable, but sadly the need for that very clear distinction has arrived,” said Senator Lankford (R-OK), who recently observed the 48th anniversary of Roe v. Wade by giving a 20-minute biology lesson on the Senate floor demonstrating the personhood of unborn babies to pro-abortion Democrats.
“In trying to compete with China, we shouldn’t become like them,” Senator Daines (R-MT) warned. “It’s critical that we draw a bright line against unethical forms of research that fail to recognize the distinct value of humans over animals.”
The NIH’s chimeric research plans had been stymied by a 2019 Trump Administration policy which had shut down the acquisition of human fetal tissue from elective abortions for research and instituted an ethics board to review any such research at labs and universities.
But in April 2021 the NIH announced it was reversing the policy, permitting the acquisition of new fetal tissue from abortions for research and abolishing the ethics board requirement.
Just a month later the ISSCR put out its much-anticipated new guidelines which explicitly allow and provide guidance for chimera research. The NIH is expected to adopt the new guidelines.
To date the NIH has not lifted its moratorium, and it does not directly fund chimera research. However private chimeric research is actively underway in American universities, producing a number of disturbing results. In May 2020 a mouse embryo composed of 96% animal cells and 4% human cells was created by researchers from the State University of New York at Buffalo and the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.
In April 2021 researchers with the Salk Institute in California injected 25 induced pluripotent stem cells (IPS cells) from humans into macaque monkey embryos in a grotesque Frankenstein-like chimeric experiment resulting in the creation of human-monkey embryos.
“Currently the National Institutes of Health does not do this research and we need to keep it that way,” Sen. Lankford said, “Researchers who are attempting these horrific once-science-fiction experiments should focus on valuing the dignity of human life, not trying to genetically merge and manipulate humans and animals.”
But despite the best efforts of Senators Braun, Daines, and Lankford, their proposed amendment, which had been endorsed by a bevy of pro-life organizations including the Family Research Council, March for Life Action, National Right to Life, and the US Council of Catholic Bishops, was struck down in a 49-48 vote.
Without the amendment that would have criminalized dystopian chimera research, “The Endless Frontier Act,” which is now on its way to the House of Representatives, will grant billions of dollars to the NIH while leaving the door wide open to morally repugnant research which exploits the bodies of aborted babies at tax-payer expense.
SOURCE: LIFESITE NEWS
