Foetal tissue sale in US going on for years since moratorium lifted in 1993 — report

Thousands participate in the anti-abortion March for Life past the US Supreme Court building in Washington in this Jan. 22, 2015 file photo. Reuters

The sale of foetal tissues has been going on for years, and the business has already ballooned into a $85-billion industry, according to a recent investigation conducted by the Christian news publication The Stream.

Linda Royall, an investigative reporter for The Stream, blamed former President Bill Clinton for the upsurge in the sale of foetal tissues.

"In 1993, when Bill Clinton came into office, one of the first things he did was he lifted that moratorium [on the sale of baby parts]," Royall told OneNewsNow."He allowed NIH (National Institutes of Health) and HHS (Department of Health and Human Services) and any other organisation—not just government-funded organisations, but any organisation—to begin using tissue from aborted babies."

Women healthcare and abortion service provider Planned Parenthood has come under fire after The Center for Medical Progress released a series of sting videos purportedly showing the sale of aborted baby parts.

Royall interviewed a doctor who operated an abortion clinic in 2009 who revealed the truth behind the foetal tissue sales in the US.

"He made clear that what is described above is business as usual in the foetal body parts industry in America. Many a child is slaughtered in the womb and then rendered, packaged and brokered to a multitude of industries, whose products and projects comprise the aftermarket for the roughly 1.2 million US abortions annually," Royall said, according to Christian Headlines.

She said "it's big business and getting bigger."

Before Clinton lifted the moratorium on foetal tissue sales and research, what was only allowed in research with foetal tissue was those from ectopic pregnancy or miscarriage.

More abortions seen worldwide

Meanwhile, abortions around the world are likely to increase under the United Nations' global development goals for the next 15 years.

"We are profoundly concerned," Rep. Chris Smith told Catholic News Agency. "This is being launched by the heads of state as a transformative document. And it's supposed to be the agenda for the next 15 years, for the entire globe, including the United States."

The UN's Sustainable Development Goals are aimed at fighting poverty, world hunger, human trafficking and promote sustainable energy.

The plan is set for voting next month at the UN General Assembly.

One target states that "by 2030, [governments must] ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes."

Another states that [governments must] "ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences."

The phrases "sexual and reproductive health-care services" and "sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights" are commonly known in the past to include abortions.

Donors will tie funding to conditions that pro-life developing countries must liberalise abortion laws, according to a former diplomat.

Poor countries rely on development funding and may be pressured to liberalise abortion laws.

"To most of the world, especially the developing world, the US is like a life-or-death situation for them. If they have refugees, they need refugee money. And to the developing world, the UN is almost like another government, if not a major government, for them," said Smith.

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