Scientists are Using Livers From Babies Killed in Second-Trimester Abortions for Research

State   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   May 4, 2021   |   3:34PM   |   Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Center for Medical Progress journalist David Daleiden warned Pennsylvania lawmakers Tuesday that “horrific abuses of aborted infants” similar to those committed by infamous Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell still may be happening in the state.

Like Gosnell, who was convicted of killing babies born alive in abortions, research published by scientists at the University of Pittsburgh suggests that late second-trimester babies may be being aborted alive so their liver cells can be harvested for experimental stem cell transplants, Daleiden said.

He was one of several people who testified Tuesday in front of the Pennsylvania House Health Committee about fetal experimentation at the University of Pittsburgh. Others included Dr. Kathi Aultman, a retired OB-GYN and former abortionist who later became pro-life, University of Pittsburgh research scientist Dr. Jeremy Rich and Stanford University bioethics Professor Henry Greely.

“It’s crucial for public officials in the Commonwealth of Pa., including the people’s representatives in this legislative body, to exercise all the oversight authority available to you to ensure that the crimes of Kermit Gosnell are not being perpetuated,” Daleiden told the committee.

He referred to public documents, including studies published by University of Pittsburgh researchers, about experiments involving aborted baby body parts, the university’s work with the Planned Parenthood abortion chain and the taxpayer funding used to support the unethical research.

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These documents include research by Dr. Jörg C. Gerlach, an experimental surgeon at the university, who “developed and published on a grotesque technique to harvest fresh, pristine livers from intact babies delivered alive in late-term abortions ‘at a gestational age of 18 to 22 weeks,’” according to Daleiden’s research, originally published at the Washington Examiner in 2019.

Research published in 2012 and 2017 by Gerlach and his colleagues suggest “at least some of this ghastly work was developed or practiced in Pittsburgh,” Daleiden said.

“Experimenting on a living fetus, or failing to provide medical care to a born-alive infant regardless of prematurity, is a third-degree felony in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Live fetal experimentation has been reported and documented at Pitt for decades,” he told lawmakers.

Another disturbing study by University of Pittsburgh researchers, published September 2020 in the journal “Scientific Reports,” describes how scientists used scalps from aborted babies to create “humanized” mice and rats to study the human immune system.

Along with the study, the researchers published photos of their experiment – horrific images that show tufts of babies’ hair growing on the rodents. Researchers conducted the experiment with taxpayer funding from the National Institutes of Health.

Daleiden told lawmakers that these “horrific abuses of aborted infants” are “a matter of public record” and they are being committed “through the extensive fetal experimentation programs at the taxpayer-funded University of Pittsburgh.”

At another point, Daleiden and at least one lawmaker also questioned the University of Pittsburgh’s decision to send a professor who has only been employed at the university for five months to testify at the hearing.

Though an expert research scientist, Dr. Jeremy Rich repeatedly apologized to lawmakers, telling them that he was new to the university and did not have the information to answer many of their questions about the University of Pittsburgh’s research with aborted baby body parts.

Pennsylvania pro-life leaders and top state lawmakers are calling for an investigation and urging the University of Pittsburgh to stop its experiments using aborted baby body parts.

“We call on the University of Pittsburgh to stop all experimentation on aborted babies and the inhumane practice of grafting their skin and body parts onto rodents,” the Pennsylvania Family Institute wrote in an open letter in response to the investigation.