Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), and 21 other Republican members of Congress sent a letter on Apr. 24 to National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, urging the agency to permanently end funding for human embryo-destroying stem cell research and terminate the NIH Human Embryonic Stem Cell Registry.
The lawmakers argue that such research is unethical and has not produced effective results, emphasizing their preference for alternative types of stem cell research that do not involve the destruction of embryos. They call on the NIH to focus its efforts on adult stem cells, umbilical cord blood, and induced pluripotent stem cells.
“The NIH policy on funding hESC research and maintaining the Registry, which currently lists more than 500 hESC lines, has been a moral blot on NIH. This research relies on the death of human embryos,” Smith and his colleagues wrote in their letter. “There is no such thing as a ‘spare’ human being, and the U.S. government should not be facilitating or funding research that depends on killing and harvesting cells from human beings in their youngest form.” The lawmakers also stated: “The proven effectiveness of these ethical sources of stem cells, contrasted with the dismal record of hESC research, reveals the urgent need for NIH to modernize its funding strategy for stem cell research.” They continued: “The NIH should never have allowed research that relies upon and incentivizes the destruction of human life to be funded with billions of taxpayer dollars. It certainly should refrain from continuing to do so, especially after that great expense has delivered so little benefit for patients.”
Smith is known as author of legislation related to ethical alternatives in this field; he wrote the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005 (PL 109-129), which created a national umbilical cord blood program connecting patients with genetically matched umbilical cord blood stem cells.
According to the official biography, Smith is currently serving in Congress representing New Jersey’s 4th district since replacing Frank Thompson in 1981; he was born in Rahway, New Jersey in 1953 and lives in Manchester Township according to NJ.com. He graduated from The College of New Jersey with a Bachelor’s degree in science according to his alma mater.
Looking ahead, Smith introduced another reauthorization bill—the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Reauthorization Act—in September 2025 (HR 5160) seeking $280 million over five years for national transplant programs.
