Mr. Bardsley's brother Jim and Jim's wife Brenda founded the organization in 1994. But when IIAM's board of directors decided to withdraw from involvement with fetal tissue, the Bardsleys spun off AGF-specifically to continue providing fetal tissue to researchers. Significantly, AGF opened in 1994, the year after President Clinton shattered the fetal-tissue research ban. Brenda Bardsley, who is now AGF president, says no. AGF's economic windfall, she says, is related to the company's expansion into adult donations, not the transfer of fetal tissue.
Abortion is legal, but tragic.
We don't encourage abortion, but we see that good can come from fetal-tissue research. There is so much wonderful research going on-research that can help save the lives of wanted children. Mrs. Bardsley says she teaches her own children that abortion is wrong. And though she can't cite a chapter and verse that says it's OK to cut and ferry baby parts, she points out that God commands us to love one another. For Mrs. Bardsley, aiding medical research by supplying fetal parts qualifies.