The Trump administration has ended funding for research that involves the use of aborted fetal tissue, a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) spokesperson confirmed to Fox News Digital.
The spokesperson said effective immediately, National Institutes of Health (NIH) funds ‘will no longer be used for research that involves the fetal tissue of aborted babies.’ This comes a day before the March for Life.
In an announcement of the policy change, NIH said the move was ‘a significant milestone in the Trump Administration’s efforts to modernize biomedical science and accelerate innovation.’
‘NIH is pushing American biomedical science into the 21st century,’ said NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya. ‘This decision is about advancing science by investing in breakthrough technologies more capable of modeling human health and disease. Under President Trump’s leadership, taxpayer-funded research must reflect the best science of today and the values of the American people.’
NIH-supported research using fetal tissue has dipped since 2019, with only 77 projects funded in Fiscal Year 2024, according to the agency. It says that advancements in organoids, tissue chips, computational biology and more have been able to support scientific research ‘while reducing ethical concerns.’
The March for Life is an annual event that gathers pro-life supporters in Washington, D.C. The gathering coincides with the anniversary of the Supreme Court issuing its ruling on Roe v. Wade in 1973, though the ruling was overturned in 2022.
This year, Vice President JD Vance will address the crowd on Friday, as he did last year. Just days ago, Vance and his wife, Usha, announced that they are expecting their fourth child. When the White House posted its congratulations to the vice president and second lady, it declared the Trump administration to be ‘the most pro-family administration in history.’
In addition to Vance, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., will also be addressing the crowd on Friday.