Madison, Wis. - A Wisconsin Planned Parenthood clinic in 2010 provided heart and brain tissues from aborted fetuses to University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers for studies aimed at understanding the growth of babies with and without birth defects.
Anti-abortion activists released documents on the research at UW-Madison as they try to salvage a bill to prohibit this sort of tissue transfer before the close of the Wisconsin Legislature's session.
UW-Madison officials have already acknowledged doing this kind of biomedical research, but the documents make clear in addition that Planned Parenthood clinics in the state formerly helped to furnish some tissues involved.
Both UW and Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin officials said that there was no reimbursement for the tissues, that the mothers agreed to the tissue use and that the university is no longer receiving tissues from these state clinics.
The studies provide insight into the moral argument at the heart of the legislation, known as AB 305.
Supporters say the bill would protect against profiteering from, and an improper reliance on, the remains of fetuses, while opponents say there is no profiteering and there are humane reasons to use tissues for bettering the health of all, including the unborn.
UW-Madison spokeswoman Meredith McGlone said the studies seek in part to understand why fetuses with an abnormal number of chromosomes don't grow normally, which can lead to Down syndrome and other medical challenges that have no treatment.
"We currently don't understand why these fetuses don't grow normally," McGlone said. "These chromosomal abnormalities lead some families to seek abortion. Many of these fetuses survive after birth but continue to suffer harmful effects because of their abnormal growth."
