H.R. 2075 — Protecting Life and Integrity in Research Act of 2025

This section prohibits any Federal department, agency, or office from conducting, funding, approving, or otherwise supporting research involving human fetal tissue obtained pursuant to an induced abortion, with exceptions for (1) developing or supporting new, high-efficiency cell lines (e.g., for vaccines or genetic vectors) not derived from such tissue and (2) research on tissue obtained after a miscarriage or stillbirth conducted in accordance with amended section 498A of the Public Health Service Act (PHSA; 42 U.S.C. 289g-1). As background, PHSA section 498A previously authorized the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct or support research using human fetal tissue—including from induced abortions—to develop safe, effective therapies, subject to informed consent and other protections. (Thus, the amendments effectively ban Federal research using tissue from elective abortions while permitting it for tissue from natural fetal deaths.) The section amends PHSA section 498A by (1) revising the heading from "transplantation of fetal tissue" to "human fetal tissue obtained after a miscarriage or stillbirth"; (2) limiting subsection (a) to research on tissue from a miscarriage or stillbirth; (3) modifying subsection (b) informed consent requirements to apply only if tissue is for transplantation and removing the prior ban on incentives for donation; (4) revising subsection (c)(1)(B) to reference tissue from miscarriage or stillbirth; (5) adding definitions in new subsection (g), including "human fetal tissue" (tissue or cells from a dead unborn child after induced abortion, miscarriage, or stillbirth), "miscarriage" (involuntary death before 20 weeks gestation), "stillbirth" (involuntary death at 20 weeks or more), and "unborn child" (per 18 U.S.C. 1841(d)); and (6) repealing section 113 of the National Institutes of Health Revitalization Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 289g-1 note), which had authorized such research including from induced abortions.

This section revises restrictions on human fetal tissue under the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 289g-2)—which generally prohibits its sale or purchase for research, transplantation, therapy, or experimentation—by (1) prohibiting the solicitation or knowing acquisition, receipt, or acceptance of a donation of such tissue (excluding transfers for autopsy or burial) when it is known that a pregnancy was deliberately initiated to provide the tissue or the tissue was obtained pursuant to an induced abortion; (2) striking subsection (b); (3) redesignating subsections (c) through (e) as subsections (b) through (d), respectively; and (4) making conforming changes to cross-references in the redesignated subsection (c).