Renewing his attacks on the queer community (despite selling T-shirts promoting LGBTQ support), Donald Trump has canceled vital AIDS research.
Trump officials cited the president’s commitment to anti-abortion forces. A spokesperson for the White House said: “This was the president’s decision, another important policy … to protect the dignity of human life.” Anonymous officials also say that Vice President Mike Pence played a crucial role in the decision as well.
Related: Scientists make breakthrough in HIV research by destroying ‘reservoir’ cells
The new policy bans testing HIV therapies on fetal tissue taken from elective abortions. In essence, doctors harvested the leftover tissue to test experimental treatments. The process began in the 1930s and has been used in the development of a number of therapies, including finding new treatments for kidney failure, AIDS and Parkinson’s Disease. The medical community has widely characterized the practice as vital to disease research since the fetal tissue can be used to mimic a variety of cells found in the human body. No substitute has yet been discovered.
University of California San Francisco Chancellor Sam Hawgood hotly criticized the move as detrimental to disease research.
“At UCSF, today’s action ends a 30-year partnership with the [National Institutes of Health] (NIH) to use specially designed models that could be developed only through the use of fetal tissue to find a cure for HIV,” Hawgood said. “UCSF exercised appropriate oversight and complied with all state and federal laws. We believe this decision to be politically motivated, shortsighted and not based on sound science.”
Coruna2018
An extremely sinister move by Pence & Company. If we’re not vigilant, we’ll be the Fundamentalist Christian version of the Iranian Islamic Republic!
Cam
No surprise, Republicans hate LGBTQ people, they associate AIDS with that group, so OF COURSE they are going to stop any efforts they see as helping that group.
This is simple, hate and bigotry.
TxCudlr
Then the action that EVERY gay, Bi, & those that are open to & are friends of gays need to vote OUT the 2 “problems” that continue to plaque this country. Other countries & leaders would LOVE to see both of them GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
James
HOW MANY ABORTIONS HAS TRUMP HAD WITH ALL THE PROSTITUTES HE HAS PAID OFF.
TxCudlr
unfortunately, Trump is an abortion that just happen to live.
Chrisk
I can’t just believe this. He just gave a message on LGBT pride day. First Rethug to do that and all. Just when I thought things were going to get better. Lol
This is nothing new. The other idiot Bush was against stem cell research. They got to show something to their shitstain followers how anti gay there are. Nancy Reagan became a big advocate of it though. She connected the dots ie Alzheimer’s research.
Gary Q VV
You’re correct @Chrisk. Don’t start getting complacent my fellow LGBTQians. The boogeymen still wants us dead, and aren’t always covert about it – not in the least.
Diplomat-G
@Chrisk
Your joking yes, are to telling me you have not figured out that trump will say anything and do anything if it thinks it will serve the trumpshite he is? He does not give a shit about anyone and especially not the LGBT community why you guys always fall for the same bs is beyond me, especially after everything he has already done….
truthseeker
This article is very misleading. This isn’t a “huge blow” to HIV research. The policy merely states that the federal government will not provide funds to big pharma to use fetal tissue in experiments. They can still use it but it won’t be government funded. However, they can opt to use adult tissue in stem cell research without a problem in federal funding. Advancements in science have been able to alter adult tissue to study systemic immune diseases.
The Trump administration has also pledged $140 million over budget in new CDC funding to reduce the spread of HIV and AIDS to connect patients with treatment and to provide PrEP at little to no cost. Trump’s new budget also pledges $120 million through the Ryan White HIV / AIDS program. All of this is the first time in several years where a President has increased the spending on HIV / AIDS significantly.
This doesn’t say that stem cell research is banned. It just prevents companies from selling dead baby parts for profit and expecting the government to pay big pharma for the costs. They can receive funding from the government for adult stem cells or other testing, just not by using dead baby parts for cell extraction (that would have to be privately funded).
toronto
You should wash out your mouth, it still smells like Trump’s orange mushroom
truthseeker
@toronto
I see. When presented facts you don’t like, your natural reaction is to spew a homophobic insult toward a gay person
Gary Q VV
@truthseeker Any blow, as you so quaintly put it, can have devastating effects and consequences if you follow through the path of logical conclusions.
And, what’s wrong with using the cells of an aborted fetal tissue? It all loops back to “Abortion Rights” for women and the opposite beliefs of some conservatives and some religious mongers.
Well, listen up:
— 1) We The People…are not obligated or tethered to follow those conservative yahoos.
— 2) We The People…are not obligated or tethered to follow those mentally twisted religions mongers.
So ladies, you have the right to take ownership of your bodies. And the scientific groups have the right to use those aborted tissues with governmental funding.
Oh yeah, @truthseeker your comment seems rather Wikistupidia to me. Try some original ideas and real research.
truthseeker
@Gary Q VV
When you say, “scientific groups have the right to use those aborted tissues with governmental funding”, you do realize that no one “has the right” to government funding. Big Pharma makes billions a year by price gouging the consumer. Where is the US Constitution does it say “Pfizer has an unalienable right to $100 million in tax payer funds to use the parts of a dead unborn baby”?
You need to re-read the Constitution. The government isn’t obligated to fund any of our other rights such as the freedom of speech or the right to bear arms.
Plus, no one is banning big pharma from using stem cells. They can receive funding by using non-embryonic (adult) stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, amniotic fluid stem cells, cord blood stem cells, etc. There are many ways to gather stem cells other than from the remains of a dead baby that a mother didn’t want. Just like how there are laws against scientists using certain animals for inhumane testing.
But I’m sure you are unaware of all of that since you previously thought Wikileaks and Wikipedia were the same thing
Gary Q VV
Poor @truthseeker.
Chrisk
truthseekerore
Did you actually read the article? The complaints are coming from University research departments.
Oh and these aren’t living breathing babies. Just a collection of cells. Stop with the hysterical baby killing right wing propaganda.
Vortece
I hear ya, bro! But have you noticed that every time you hear the phrase “we don’t need fetal tissue for stem cell research,” it’s never coming out of the mouth of person in a white jacket? Another quick way to tell when the person informing your opinions doesn’t have any sort of relevant training a pertinent field of study is when they refer to fetal tissue as “dead baby parts.” Hard to imagine that guy is just trying to encourage a balanced look at the issue, amirite?
Bottom line here is the scientists say they still need fetal tissue to carry out some pretty important research that will save lives. Anyone who argues otherwise is just trying to handicap abortion providers. And that’d be fine if they’d just admit it. Instead they resort to telling us lies about how scientists can just use adult cells as if the scientists would just rather kill babies than take donations from adults.
Also, big Pharma has no place in this argument. They’re not involved in the research being cut, and they wont be picking up that tab so that the research can continue. All that research will just stop, and all the people who were hoping we’d find answers and treatments and cures from it will just have to wait until scientists find other paths to those ends.
And you know what the real kicker is? None of this will stop a single abortion.
truthseeker
@Chrisk
I did read the article and UCSF has a history of being political, so I’m not shocked they’d cry about this. They can still do stem cell research they just won’t receive tax payer dollars to fund the use of tissue from aborted babies. They can easily get private funding.
A recent example of UCSF being political is they had the chance to expand their hospital facilities by partnering with Dignity Health but chose not to do so because Dignity Health doesn’t perform abortions. So UCSF will turn away more than 850 patients a year because of overcrowding. Apparently they aren’t too concerned about the well being of others.
@Vortece
Of course, Big Pharma has a place in this argument. Who do you think developed, manufactures, and sells PrEP? It’s not UCSF. It’s Gilead (Big Pharma). To say otherwise is fear mongering. The Trump Administration has increased spending to make PrEP available to people at little to no cost and negotiated with Gilead to make it more accessible as well as a generic form available by 2020.
Plus, the cells from aborted babies are not necessary as you claim. Adult stem cells have been used since the 1960s to successfully treat leukemia, bone/blood cancers, heart damage, stroke, sickle cell, MS, diabetes, lupus, and more. There are already close to 2 million patients in the world being treated with adult stem cells.
There are already many in “white jackets” who already advocate for adult stem cells only since there hasn’t been a single lifesaving result from the use of fetal stem cells.
Cam
Why do the accounts that routinely support anti-LGBT bigots think they can lie and not get caught?
HUGE amounts of that research IS provided by the Federal govt. For example, the anti-HIV drug Prep was only possible because of research by the Federal govt. So trying to claim this is no big deal is just another attempt by one of the anti-LGBT accounts that are on here to defend Republicans.
Sass-zilla
Thank you, Truthseeker, for being honest and bringing the facts to this article. It’s sad that our “news” publications do not want to report, but instead want to twist facts in order to create division. It would be nice if this article had your insight and not just the fear-mongering, partisan mantra of “orange man bad” and was used to explain what is going on and why.
truthseeker
@Cam
Right and Gilead was able to do that without the need of tissues from an aborted baby. There are more ethical and scientifically proven ways to go about research, especially considering solutions have been found with adult stem cells whereas zero lifesaving results have been discovered with aborted fetuses
Cam
@truthseeker
Translation: You lied. This is an attack on the research. But of course you’re fine with that because your job here is to always defend anti-LGBTQ bigotry.
Diplomat-G
@ truthseeker – NOT
Once again you post about issues you know nothing about. Our understanding of stem cells began with embryonic stem cells.
In 1998, Professor James Alexander Thomson and his team at the University of Wisconsin–Madison grew the first human embryonic stem cells in a laboratory dish (in vitro). This allowed scientists to learn how the cells function.
Women who undergo IVF can donate ‘spare’ embryos, which would otherwise be destroyed. Only embryos at an early stage of development (up to 14 days) can be used, and there are strict guidelines for how they can be used.
In 2001, Professor Christine Mummery and her team in the Netherlands used embryonic stem cells to create beating heart cells outside the body for the first time. Her team is now working to grow a small piece of the human heart from stem cells.
In 2002, researcher Chunhui Xu and team at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta found that human embryonic stem cells can be made to form heart muscle cells. This discovery encouraged scientists to explore whether embryonic stem cells could be used to make new heart muscle for heart attack patients. When a person has a heart attack, blood flow to the heart is restricted or blocked which can cause heart cells to die. Although less commonly used than other cell types, embryonic stem cells have helped researchers explore new ways of using stem cells to fix our hearts
Researchers, led by Dr. Jo Mountford of the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service and the University of Glasgow, are scaling up generation of red blood cells from embryonic stem cells to make a limitless supply of clean blood for transfusion. This could help those who lose blood through surgery or injury.
Would you like me to keep going? Cam, is correct you do nothing here but lie, when you are ignorant on a topic it is best not to post about it you may find that it stops people from calling out your obvious lies.
dwes09
My original comment was rejected for some reason and remains “awaiting moderation”.
But, it is clear that the moniker “truthseeker” indicates a misunderstanding of what truth is, as opposed to an actual search for it.
There is no sale of parts from second or third trimester abortions for profit. That allegation was the result of a heavily edited video that has, in fact, ended in criminal charges for the individuals who concocted it.
Fetal tissue has been a source of long lived undifferentiated cell lines (embryonic cells, not differentiated “parts” or “organs”, though we all understand that facts are not important for you). Pluripotency is not found in undifferentiated cells from adults, so they are considerably less useful. And obviously no fetus is aborted for the purpose of getting these cells. Would you (as it seems) that fetal tissue simply be incinerated, as opposed to serving for some good?
Additionally I provided a link listing statistics regarding HIV funding. Contrary to what you claim, funds for research and prevention have not increased in the past three years. The link seems to be what caused the rejection of the post.
Facts matter.Opinions based on myth or falsehood do not.
The facts concerning Trumps ACTIONS demonstrate he cares little for LGBT people regardless of his statements. In fact his statements while in GB regarding the Trans ban in the military shows how freely he lies.And all the media there (and some of it here) posted exactly what those lies were. Thankfully those with any sort of critical intellectual skills in the media are finally calling his lies as what they are.
truthseeker
@Diplomat-G
Everything I said was accurate. They haven’t used embryo cells to create any life saving solutions.
“In 2001, Professor Christine Mummery and her team in the Netherlands used embryonic stem cells to create beating heart cells outside the body”
And what did she discover years later with this? Dr. Mummery found that the embryonic cells injected into a heart showed no improvements. She said years later that almost ANY cell put into the heart does something, but there’s no particular advantage in putting in embryonic stem cells.
Then you brought up, “in 2002, researcher Chunhui Xu…”. Same as above pertains here. He’s done research since 2002 and hasn’t made any progress. They’ve created heart cells in a dish but when actually used in real life application they don’t work as learned by Dr. Mummery.
Then “Researchers, led by Dr. Jo Mountford…”, she’s mainly been using fetal calf tissue (not human) and hasn’t shown that the blood cells she created are safe or stable. They’ve been using ESC for decades and still haven’t found any solutions with it, unlike ASC or stem cells donated from the actual patient.
My comment still stands
truthseeker
@dwes09
“Additionally I provided a link listing statistics regarding HIV funding. Contrary to what you claim, funds for research and prevention have not increased in the past three years. ”
I never said it increased in the past 3 years. The new spending was approved in 2019 and shows an increase in HIV spending not seen by other presidents. Plus the Trump Admin made significant progress with Gilead on affordable PrEP
marion
@ Gary Q VV, you are confusing right with a privilege, a right is implicitly stated.
Cam
No, there is a moral right and a legal right. And such rights do not have to be stated. A person has the “right” not to have somebody walk up, smash a cake in their face and then pee on them. That isn’t specifically stated but they have the right to not have that happen to them.
truthseeker
@Cam (DCguy)
“A person has the “right” not to have somebody walk up, smash a cake in their face and then pee on them.”
But just days ago when Milo (however you spell his last name) had a milkshake thrown on him you said it’s okay to throw foods and drinks on people because it’s “confronting monsters”. When I said that throwing things at people is never the answer, you said I’m a “bigot” for saying as such and that people like Milo face this as a “penalty”, implying he loses his right to safely walk down the street because you don’t like him
Not much consistent logic on your part
Cam
@truthseeker
Awww, it’s cute when you try to deflect.
truthseeker
@Cam
But you just totally deflected on the Jussie Smollett story posted today. Again, not very consistent.
Besides I merely pointed out your bias