Are There Really Alternatives to the Use of Fetal Tissue from Elective Abortions in Transplantation Research?

Human fetal tissue has been described as having tremendous plasticity and availability, and as possibly being less prone to rejection than adult tissue. These properties have led many researchers to consider it a possible source of transplantable tissue for patients with incurable debilitating diseases, such as diabetes mellitus and Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and Huntington's diseases. The use of human fetal tissue in research involving transplantation in human recipients has become the center of a heated controversy in the United States. In March 1988 the Department of Health and Human Services placed a moratorium on the funding of research involving the transplantation…