Protecting Life and Integrity in Research Act of 2025

Key Points

• The bill would ban the federal government from conducting, funding, approving, or otherwise supporting any research that uses fetal tissue obtained from an induced abortion. This applies to all federal departments, agencies, and offices, as well as any researcher receiving federal support.
• Research using fetal tissue from miscarriages or stillbirths would still be allowed under existing rules. The bill defines a miscarriage as the involuntary death of an unborn child before 20 weeks and a stillbirth as one at 20 weeks or more.
• The development of new cell lines for vaccines and genetic treatments would still be permitted, as long as those cell lines are not derived from abortion-obtained fetal tissue.
• The bill would make it illegal to solicit or knowingly accept donations of fetal tissue if it was obtained from an induced abortion, expanding existing prohibitions in the Public Health Service Act. Violations could carry criminal penalties under current law.