On April 9, 2025, a group of 29 Members of Congress, led by House Pro-Life Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Values Action Team Chairman Robert Aderholt (R-AL), and Senate Pro-Life Caucus Member Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), issued a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to halt funding for human embryonic stem cell research (hESC).
The lawmakers expressed their objections, stating, “We have serious moral objections to hESC. The research relies on the death of young human beings. Human life cannot be reduced to the level of a guinea pig; there is no such thing as a ‘spare human being’ on whom it is permissible to conduct experiments which kill. The practice of funding this research has been a moral blot on NIH.”
The letter referenced the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) expenditure of nearly $1 billion on embryo-destroying stem cell research from Fiscal Years 2021 to 2023, with an estimated $318 million more funding projected for FY2025.
Lawmakers noted, “After over twenty-five years of research, there are no FDA-approved hESC therapies on the market… [T]he federal government has lagged behind scientific progress; it continues to fund this outdated hESC research.” Instead, they praised advancements in ethical research, citing “successful ethical research exists, including adult stem cells, umbilical cord blood, and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs); it has yielded and continues to unlock treatments for millions of patients worldwide.”
The letter specifically pointed out that “In 2005, Rep. Chris Smith authored the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-129), groundbreaking legislation that transformed medical treatment by connecting patients needing treatment with genetically matched cord blood stem cells, providing new opportunities for patients to access cures.”
The letter concluded with the assertion, “While destruction of human embryos has enriched some researchers, it has not yielded benefits to patients. Meanwhile, ethical alternatives are providing treatments for millions of patients. Therefore, we believe it is in the best interest of both taxpayers and patients to stop spending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars each year on hESC research.”
