Fetal Cell’s Uniqueness at Base of Debate

The ethical battle over using fetal tissue is the battle over abortions one step removed.

On one side are the scientists who feel that fetuses are available and it would be a shame not to put them to some positive use, such as helping victims of degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

On the other side are those who think sanctioning the use of fetal tissue might encourage abortions as a source of such material.

“The analogy that is made, which is a very difficult analogy, is would you use kidneys from concentration camps for transplantation?” said Robert C. Baumiller, director of the Division of Genetics at Georgetown University, in a recent interview.

“Depending on where you are on the abortion question, you would be using for good, parts of those who improperly had their lives taken,” he said.

A ban on using federal money for fetal tissue research was imposed a year ago, and James Mason, assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services said he intends to continue it indefinitely.

Fetal cells are valued by researchers, he said, because they still are in the process of developing.

“What a fetal cell does better than any cell from an individual after birth is grow,” he said. “There are growth factors present within a fetal human which are unique to that system; they have a vitality that is unique.”

But, said Baumiller, no one really knows how that vitality might be transferred from cell to cell.

Some experts believe it may be possible to treat a variety of diseases by transplanting tissue taken from aborted fetuses. There were especially hopeful signs in use of such tissues in treating Parkinson’s Disease.

“Because of Parkinson’s, we think there might be some advantage with other neurological degenerative diseases, especially those with cells which are kind of sister cells,” said Baumiller. “The next question would be, if it helps in Alzheimer’s Disease, could it help perhaps in Huntington’s, any place where you have a neurological degenerative condition?”

Dr. Robert Hay, head of the cell culture department of the American Type Culture Collection in Rockville, Md., said fetal cells have provided information on aging and cell transformation--the change from normal to cancerous properties--and in virus replication studies and studies of chemicals that affect human cells.

Some argue that there is enough primate research already being carried out that no one needs human fetal research.

“Human cells behave differently than cells from animals,” said Hay. “There are properties of human cells we obviously need to know about that differ from those of a mouse or a rat.”

The ethics of using tissue from aborted fetuses were studied recently by a committee at Stanford University, which drew up guidelines that include:

* Women who undergo abortions should not benefit directly from the medical use of their fetuses. They should not be reimbursed for their abortions.

* Medical personnel who perform abortions also should not profit from use of the fetal tissue.

* Fetal tissue should be treated with the respect given to cadavers.

* Fetuses should not be aborted for the specific purpose of using their tissue.