University of Wisconsin Defends Buying Body Parts From 20-Week-Old Aborted Babies for Research

State   |   Sarah Zagorski   |   Aug 13, 2015   |   1:58PM   |   Madison, WI

On August 11, the Dean of the University of Wisconsin’s health school defended the school’s decision to buy aborted baby body parts for research. Right Wisconsin reports that Dr. Robert Golden is the Dean of the University’s School of Medicine and Public Health.

In July, Reps. Andre Jacque (R-De Pere) and Joel Kleefisch (R-Oconomowoc) introduced legislation that would ban the sale of fetal body parts in the state and not allow federal funding to go toward Planned Parenthood. The LaCrosse Tribune reported that the legislation was a response to the scandal surrounding Planned Parenthood buying the body parts of aborted babies.

Dr. Golden testified in a public hearing on the bill earlier this week that ending abortion would negatively impact the work of medical researchers.

Rep. Joel Kleefisch asked, “What would happen to your research if women quit having abortions?” Dr. Golden replied, “It would have a substantial negative impact on our capacity to do the life saving research that we are doing.”

According to a 2012 report, Dr. Shannon C. Kenney of UW’s McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research used human fetal livers and thymus tissue from Advanced Bioscience Resources (ABR) for some of the University’s latest research. The report explains, “Human fetal thymus and liver tissue of gestational ages 17 weeks to 20 weeks were obtained from Advanced Bioscience Resource…. The recipient mice…[were] implanted with fetal thymus and liver fragments under the recipient kidney capsule after irradiation.”

The report was published in the Journal of Virology and titled, “An EBV Mutant with Enhanced BZLF1 Expression Causes Lymphomas with Abortive Lytic EBV Infection in Humanized Mouse Model.” Apparently after the body parts from aborted babies are obtained, their “tissue” is injected into mice for research purposes.

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In a 2013 study, Kenney and her team did not report that they obtained the aborted babies from ABR; however, she did say they came from “unspecified cadaverous sources.”

That report said, “Human fetal thymus and autologous liver tissues of 14 to 20 weeks of gestational age were obtained from cadaverous sources and processed and stored in X-vivo 15 serum-free culture medium (Lonza Biosciences, Allendale, New Jersey). Thymus and liver tissues were cut into fragments (each approximately 1 mm), and 1 fragment each of thymus and of liver tissue were surgically implanted next to each other under the capsule of the left kidney. Immediately after this surgery, the mice were given an intravenous (ocular) injection of purified human CD34 HSCs…that were obtained from the same fetal liver tissue used for surgical engraftment.”

As LifeNews previously reported, the information regarding the University of Wisconsin using aborted babies in research follows on the heels of reports showing another publicly-funded university, Colorado State University (CSU), using them. On January 10, 2013, Colorado State University purchased fetal body parts from Planned Parenthood’s flagship abortion facility in San Jose, California via a company called StemExpress.  In total, nine specimens were harvested from eight different aborted babies killed in abortions at that Planned Parenthood clinic and the purchase order reveals CSU bought two body parts, including an aborted baby’s liver.

At the time, StemExpress paid Planned Parenthood $50 per specimen, which means that in one day they received $450. Additionally, Stem Express harvested body parts from Planned Parenthood facilities in Fresno, Sacramento and Stockton. The documentation from StemExpress reveals that Leila Remling, an employee of CSU’s Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology Department, purchased the body parts.