Scientists, fearing safety, silent as Planned Parenthood attacked for sale of fetal issue

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In recent weeks, it’s been nearly impossible not to hear people — presidential candidates, attorneys general, lawmakers, pundits, outraged relatives on Facebook — talking about the undercover video footage showing Planned Parenthood doctors discussing the sale of fetal tissue to biotech companies.

But one voice is conspicuously missing: that of the scientists who actually use fetal cells. At the beginning of the scandal, BuzzFeed News got two of them on the record, and other publications have quoted a couple of others. But the vast majority of scientists who use aborted tissue have shirked from the hot public spotlight.

BuzzFeed News has written to more than 70 scientists who have received federal funding — ranging from around $50,000 to nearly $5 million — for research that involves human fetal tissue. They work on a diverse range of projects: understanding human blindness, developing vaccines, making better models of HIV, and creating therapies for liver failure, just to name a few.

Just six agreed to talk about their use of fetal cells, and only under the condition of anonymity.

“What a chilling effect, you know?” one stem cell biologist working at a large public university told BuzzFeed News.

She requested to be anonymous for two reasons. “There’s crazy people out there and I have young children,” she said, adding that, so far, she has not received any specific threats.

“Secondly, to be honest, my university will probably freak out as well. They don’t want to deal with the craziness around this,” she said.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: Scientists Are Terrified Of Talking About The Planned Parenthood Videos

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