While UNMC recognizes that the use of fetal tissue for research is a sensitive issue, researchers will continue their work in this area. However, UNMC is exploring other avenues to obtain the fetal tissue.
“UNMC has never used material from late term abortions,” said William Berndt, Ph.D., vice-chancellor for academic affairs. “We will not accept tissue from partial-birth abortions. We are following the highest national standards provided by the National Institutes of Health when conducting this research.”
UNMC will use fetal tissue cells from spontaneous abortions, ectopic pregnancies and stillbirths as its first choice when possible. Due to the limited availability of this tissue and the viability of its use, UNMC will seek the support of area hospitals to help provide tissue obtained from spontaneous abortions, ectopic pregnancies and stillbirths. However, some critical experiments using fetal cells conducted at UNMC require the use of fetal tissue obtained from aborted fetuses.