Anti-Choice Extremists Hamper COVID-19 Vaccine Development
In its ongoing assault on reproductive rights, the anti-legal abortion movement has hijacked the issue of stem cell research for political purposes. Not unlike its opposition to all forms of birth control except so-called “natural family planning” and its opposition to emergency contraception for rape victims, the anti-abortion movement is using opposition to stem cell research to establish as public policy (versus privately held religious doctrine) that human “life” begins at conception
The dangerous restrictions placed on reproductive health care by anti-choice politicians always cause harm, but their hampering a COVID-19 vaccine is another new low in their litany of attacks on health care and saving lives.
Because anti-choice extremists have succeeded in blocking access to fetal tissue for research in finding cures for diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and cancer, there is now a renewed urgent call to lift these research restrictions to find COVID-19 treatments and a vaccine. Fetal tissue is provided by women who undergo abortions and has long been used in critical research—even in the development of the polio vaccine.
However, anti-choice extremists insist the use of fetal tissue for COVID-19 research is unethical and that taxpayer money should not fund this research. Democrats arguing to remove such restrictions, led by Representatives Jared Huffman (CA), Diana DeGette (CO), and our own Jan Schakowsky (IL), recently wrote:
“Because of your restrictions, NIH is unable to utilize human fetal tissue to develop animal models of COVID-19 that can test potential vaccines and treatments to decelerate or even end this global health crisis. This inaction may ultimately put Americans further at risk of disease or death from COVID-19.”
We know the anti-choice extremists will do anything and everything to deny access to reproductive health care. In a time when our country (and world) needs all hands on deck to overcome this crisis, the anti-choice movement is doing the exact opposite.
In Illinois, for many years, Personal PAC has succeeded in preventing the anti-choice extremists from putting their dangerous agenda ahead of science, sound public policy, and plain commonsense. We hope you’ll continue supporting our work so we can do our part in this battle to protect the health and lives of everyone in Illinois.