1 

" ! COMMITTEE PRINT 

114TH CONGRESS

2nd Session 

S. PRT. 

114–27 

HUMAN FETAL TISSUE RESEARCH: 

CONTEXT AND CONTROVERSY 

MAJORITY STAFF REPORT 

PREPARED FOR THE USE OF THE

COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS 

SECOND SESSION 

DECEMBER 2016 

Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary 
HUMAN FETAL TISSUE RESEARCH: CONTEXT AND CONTROVERSY 
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office

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1 

22–920 PDF 

" ! COMMITTEE PRINT 

114TH CONGRESS

2nd Session 

S. PRT. 

2016

114–27 

HUMAN FETAL TISSUE RESEARCH: 

CONTEXT AND CONTROVERSY 

MAJORITY STAFF REPORT 

PREPARED FOR THE USE OF THE

COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS 

SECOND SESSION 

DECEMBER 2016 

Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary 
(II) 

COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY 

CHUCK GRASSLEY, Iowa, Chairman 

ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah 

JEFF SESSIONS, Alabama 

LINDSEY GRAHAM, South Carolina 

JOHN CORNYN, Texas 

MICHAEL S. LEE, Utah 

TED CRUZ, Texas 

JEFF FLAKE, Arizona 

DAVID VITTER, Louisiana 

DAVID PERDUE, Georgia 

THOM TILLIS, North Carolina 

PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont, 

Ranking Member 

DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California 

CHUCK SCHUMER, New York 

DICK DURBIN, Illinois 

SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island 

AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota 

AL FRANKEN, Minnesota 

CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware 

RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut 

KOLAN DAVIS, Chief Counsel and Staff Director 

KRISTINE LUCIUS, Democratic Chief Counsel and Staff Director 
(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

Page 

Executive Summary ................................................................................................. 1 

I. The Initial Public Debate About Fetal Tissue Research ............................... 8 

II. Congressional Response to the Fetal Research Debate ................................. 10 

III. The Return of the Fetal Tissue Debate in the Late 1980s ........................... 12 

A. The Human Fetal Tissue Transplantation Research Panel ..................... 12 

B. The George H.W. Bush Administration Rejects the Panel’s 

Recommendations ....................................................................................... 14 

C. Congressional Efforts To Overturn the Ban and Codify the Panel’s 

Recommendations ....................................................................................... 14 

D. President Clinton Lifts the Ban and Congress Codifies the Panel’s 

Recommendations ....................................................................................... 16 

IV. The NIH Revitalization Act of 1993 ................................................................ 17 

A. The Terms of 42 U.S.C. § 289g–1 ................................................................. 17 

B. The Terms of 42 U.S.C. § 289g–2 ................................................................. 18 

C. GAO Verification Report ............................................................................. 19 

D. Proposed Modification of 42 U.S.C.§ 289g–2 To Require Reporting ........ 20 

V. Media and Congressional Investigations Into Violations of 42 U.S.C.§289g–2 

in the Year 2000 ......................................................................................... 22 

A. Call for Congressional Investigation .......................................................... 22 

B. 20/20 Hidden-Camera Fetal Tissue Investigation ................................... 22 

C. Hearing by the House Subcommittee on Health ....................................... 23 

D. Another Proposed Modification of 42 U.S.C. § 289g–2 To Require 

Reporting ..................................................................................................... 26 

E. 2000 GAO Report on Fetal Tissue Research ............................................. 26 

F. Summary ...................................................................................................... 27 

VI. The Recent Controversy ................................................................................... 28 

A. The Scope of the Committee’s Investigation ............................................. 29 

1. Laws Potentially Violated or in Need of Modification .......................... 29 

2. Parties Involved ....................................................................................... 29 

B. Advanced Bioscience Resources, Inc. ......................................................... 30 

1. Contracts With Planned Parenthood Affiliates ..................................... 31 

2. ABR’s Fetal Tissue Technicians ............................................................. 33 

3. Contracts With ABR’s Customers .......................................................... 34 

4. Fetal Tissue Transaction Examples ....................................................... 35 

5. ABR’s Purported Cost Justification ........................................................ 38 

C. StemExpress, LLC ....................................................................................... 39 

1. Contracts With Planned Parenthood Affiliates ..................................... 40 

2. StemExpress’s Payments to Its Technicians ......................................... 41 

3. Example of a StemExpress Fetal Tissue Transaction .......................... 42 

4. StemExpress’s Purported Cost Justification ......................................... 42 

D. Novogenix Laboratories, LLC ..................................................................... 43 

E. Planned Parenthood .................................................................................... 44 

1. PPFA’s 2001 Fetal Tissue Policy ............................................................ 46 

2. Developments in 2011 ............................................................................. 47 

3. PPFA Stops Monitoring Affiliate Fetal Tissue Programs in 

Accreditation Reviews .................................................................................. 48 

4. Policy Changes in May 2015 ................................................................... 50 

5. Planned Parenthood’s Post Hoc Cost Calculations Created in 

Response to the Committee’s Inquiry .......................................................... 51 

F. Continued Lack of Oversight and Enforcement ........................................ 53 

VII. Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 54 

Note Regarding Exhibits ......................................................................................... 64 

Combined Exhibits .................................................................................................. 65 

Appendix I ................................................................................................................ 308 

Appendix II ............................................................................................................... 403 

Appendix III ............................................................................................................. 459 

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