Fetal tissue research

Richard A. Sokerka

Once again, President Biden’s press secretary has said that President “respectfully disagrees” with Catholic bishops, this time on federally-funded fetal tissue research.

Last week at a press briefing, EWTN News Nightly reporter Owen Jensen asked Jen Psaki, White House press secretary, about the Biden Administration’s recent decision to remove restrictions on federally-funded fetal tissue research.

Jensen cited a statement of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) that the decision to lift the ban enacted by the Trump Administration and allow for taxpayer-funded research with aborted fetal tissue was “deeply offensive.” “Look, I think the White House respectfully disagrees,” Psaki said in response. “And we believe that it’s important to invest in science and look for opportunities to cure diseases, and I think that’s what this is hopeful to do.” Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ pro-life chair, condemned the last actions by the Biden Administration, saying in a statement: “The bodies of children killed by abortion deserve the same respect as that of any other person. Our government has no right to treat innocent abortion victims as a commodity that can be scavenged for body parts to be used in research. It is unethical to promote and subsidize research that can lead to legitimizing the violence of abortion. It is also deeply offensive to millions of Americans for our tax dollars to be used for research that collaborates with an industry built on the taking of innocent lives.”b` What President Biden does not seem to understand is that “respectfully disagreeing” (again) with the Church on grave moral issues is not something a “devout Catholic,” as he boldly claims he is, would ever think of doing.