Last year, the Pro-Life Generation mobilized to end the disgusting, inhumane research committed on innocent children by the University of Pittsburgh and funded through Dr. Fauci’s National Institute of Health. In the wake of the scandal going public, Students for Life Action (SFLAction)  persistently called for the resignation of Dr. Fauci, the immediate discontinuation of this research, and a thorough investigation into the matter. If you haven’t kept up with this story, here’s what you missed:  

In a recent study, Pitt scientists describe scalping 5-month-old aborted babies and grafting their scalps onto the backs of lab rats to keep them growing… in the study you can see the pictures of little baby scalps growing tiny baby hairs on the backs of lab rats and lab mice… 

Starting in 2016, Pitt received a $1.4M grant from the NIH to become a distribution hub for aborted fetal kidneys and bladders and other organs in the NIH’s genitourinary development mapping atlas program. Pitt’s grant application for this grant from the NIH states that the university has a unique access to a large number of high-quality aborted fetuses and can “ramp up” delivery of abortion fetal body parts across the country. 

(For more background, check out SFLAction President Kristan Hawkins’ op-ed at the Washington Examiner: Bats, Beagles, and Babies: There’s Something Wrong at Fauci’s NIAID.)   

Congress Heard Us:  

If you’ve ever wondered whether your pro-life activism truly matters, the answer is Yes. After being called upon by the Pro-Life Generation to answer how this taxpayer-funded research was ever allowed to be approved or carried out, over 90 members of Congress sent an oversight letter to the Biden Administration, highlighting the $1.5M grant given to the University of Pittsburgh (UPitt) for fetal tissue research. This letter posed two questions:  

1. Did the acquired fetal tissue come from babies that were born alive and subsequently killed through organ harvesting (infanticide, which is against the law)?  

2. Were the abortion procedures altered solely for the purpose of obtaining aborted fetal tissue for research (a violation of federal law)?  

How UPitt Reacted:  

In response to the letter, UPitt hired a law firm to conduct their own investigation into the matter. The investigation recently finished, and the results were published in a report. Within this report, the firm stated that, “Our findings confirm that the university’s activities in support of research involving human fetal tissue are conducted in compliance with federal and state laws.” However, upon reading the forty-page report, pro-life politicians were supremely dissatisfied with it. Hyman, Phelps, & McNamara, to conduct their own investigation into the matter. The so-called investigation recently finished, and the results were published in a report. Within this report, the firm stated that, “Our findings confirm that the university’s activities in support of research involving human fetal tissue are conducted in compliance with federal and state laws.” However, upon reading the forty-page report, pro-life politicians did not find answers to the questions they’d asked.  

What Congress Is Saying:  

Politicians are observing that the investigation was not thorough. Instead, they believe that more effort must go in to providing a transparent report that dissects the unethical and potentially illegal actions. 

Representative Mike Kelly, R-PA, said, “It’s clear the firm which conducted this review, which already had potential conflict-of-interest issues, relied heavily on the University of Pittsburgh’s word and simplistic ‘understanding’ that fetal tissue was properly used.”  

He continued, “I am unsatisfied with those results, which did not produce hard evidence of proper use. Moreover, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) have not responded to a letter I led with more than 50 of my colleagues in Congress requesting further transparency into the matter. I continue to call on all parties to provide detailed answers into our inquiries and to shine a true light on this incredibly important issue.” 

Representative Chris Smith, R-NJ, told Fox News: “The University of Pittsburgh’s investigation is a whitewash. A truly transparent and comprehensive assessment would not have evaded the questions raised by public records, especially and including whether the University of Pittsburgh used the body parts of babies who were born alive and died from having their organs harvested, as well as if individuals procuring the baby body parts for the university altered abortion procedures to suit their gruesome research. It is long past time for the federal HHS Office of Inspector General to conduct a full audit to determine whether infanticide or other misconduct is occurring.” 

(Click HERE to read what David Daleiden–the man who originally exposed UPitt–has to say about the report.)

The Pro-Life Generation Is Not Backing Down: 

This sham of an investigation does not do justice to the lives that have been brutally lost and abused under the UPitt’s programs and supported by U.S. taxpayer funding. We applaud the legislators who are calling out the systematic corruption and we hope that they will continue to do their job of demanding a real investigation and action.  

When we elect real pro-life politicians, they represent us by demanding that life be treated as sacred—and when it’s not, they take the wrongdoers to task. We’re looking forward to reading the real report—stay tuned as we follow the story.