December 15, 2023

FOIA Request Reveals Investigation Into University of Pittsburgh over Fetal Tissue Research

Emails obtained by the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) via FOIA request confirmed that the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG)opened an investigation into the University of Pittsburgh's fetal tissue research.

Using federal tax dollars from the National Institute of Health (NIH), the University of Pittsburgh partnered with Planned Parenthood to obtain fetal kidneys harvested during late-term abortions.

Email exchanges obtained by CMP revealed that the OIG issued a subpoena to the University of Pittsburgh for documents regarding the “fetal tissue collection procedures associated with the GenitoUrinary Development Molecular Anatomy Project (GUDMAP) Tissue Hub and Collection Site at the University of Pittsburgh.”



This investigation came after CMP reported on the University of Pittsburgh's ethically and legally dubious research program in August of 2021. CMP reported the University of Pittsburgh's program, as described in its grant application to the NIH, violates federal law by collecting organs harvested during partial-birth abortions.

“Pitt’s own statements indicating its Planned Parenthood partners use criminal partial-birth abortions to harvest fetal organs to sell for NIH grant money are serious enough that a federal law enforcement agency opened a formal investigation following CMP’s reporting,” said CMP founder and president David Daleiden. “If this investigation has been conducted honestly, the facts uncovered may be more horrifying than we ever imagined. Planned Parenthood has cloaked its human atrocities committed against vulnerable mothers and infants under its ‘research’ program for decades—it is time for justice under the law for every level of the taxpayer-funded enterprise of selling aborted baby body parts.”