A long-running battle over the use of fetal tissue in medical research deepened in Harrisburg late Monday afternoon, and the casualties may include funding for the University of Pittsburgh — and potentially Penn State University and other state-supported schools.
Pitt was to receive over $150 million from the state, at least until Republicans in the House added strings to a bill that provides aid to those universities — money that helps cover the cost of providing a tuition discount for in-state students.
“In order to receive a payment,” the amendment read, “the state-related university must not engage in research or experimental using fetal tissue obtained from an elective abortion.”
“My goal is to stop these horrible actions. My goal is not to stop the funding,” the amendment’s sponsor, Schuylkill County Republican Jerry Knowles, said on the House floor Monday. “As a matter of fact, I want to help Pitt get themselves out of a problem that they created.”
Pitt did not have a response to the move Monday night, but on Tuesday morning it issued a statement that asserted Pitt "devotes every dollar of the general support appropriation it receives from the state to help support a tuition discount for Pennsylvania students and families. We’re optimistic the legislature will preserve this investment in our students."
But concerns at the university have been growing for months that such an action could jeopardize the roughly $15,000 tuition discount offered to in-state students.
Fetal-tissue research is considered essential for treating a variety of diseases, but anti-abortion activists have long questioned the morality of its use, speculating that abortion providers may profit from its distribution. Pitt’s research in the area has attracted national criticism from anti-abortion advocates and was a subject of debate during last year’s budget cycle as well.
Republican resentment was stoked this year after former Pitt chancellor Mark Nordenberg played a significant role in drawing new legislative district lines that House Republicans say were designed to help Democrats.
On Monday, Knowles called fetal-tissue research “gruesome, grotesque, grisly,” and invited his audience to “visualize hair being grafted on the back of a rodent” — an apparent reference to earlier research that involved research into human skin infections using rats as hosts.
Democratic leader Joanna McClinton urged legislators to put social issues aside and concentrate on the impacts of such a vote on Pennsylvania residents, and the economy as a whole.
"We are here to be serious about a budget," she said. "And while I welcome a debate on abortion, we are not here for that in this moment in time. So I'm asking for all of my colleagues to ensure that we stay focused on helping all of our constituents access higher education as we preach to them so often to go and get.”
Still, Knowles also made clear to his fellow Republicans that there were political consequences at stake as well, noting that a key anti-abortion group considered the amendment “a scorecard vote” — one that would be used to rate legislators’ adherence to the pro-life agenda come election time. “I think that’s important for those of you to know who are pro-life," he said.
And in the end, the amendment passed, 108-92, with all Democrats opposed and all but a handful of Republicans voting yes.
Even in Pitt’s home turf of Allegheny County, the only local Republican to vote against the prohibition was Lori Mizgorski, who is running for state Senate in a swing district that overlays much of the North Hills. Other House Republicans from the area — including Carrie DelRosso, Valerie Gaydos, Rob Mercuri and Natalie Mihalek — voted in favor of the ban.
The issue is the latest escalation in a long-running fight over fetal-tissue research at Pitt. In the face of criticism, Pitt commissioned an outside audit last year to verify that its use of the tissue met legal and ethical requirements, but Republicans were not mollified. The audit, they argued, didn’t look at the procedures used by UPMC, which supplied tissue to Pitt. UPMC is a separate nonprofit entity that the audit said was outside of its purview. But dozens of national Republicans joined regional Congressman Guy Reschenthaler and Mike Kelly to urge a federal investigation of the university last month.
But Monday’s amendment left Democrats angry as well.
“It’s just stunning,” said Pittsburgh Representative Dan Frankel, a key Democratic voice both on health issues and reproductive rights. “Everyone is interested in curing Parkinson’s disease [and Alzheimer's” — ailments where fetal tissue research is considered vital. “Pitt is one of the most successful public research universities in the entire country and creates an enormous amount of economic activity.”
Usually, Frankel’s Democratic colleagues would have no choice but to live with Monday's vote. Both branches of the state legislature are held by Republicans, who are typically able to work their will despite the objections of the Democratic minority. But Democrats have some leverage in this case because the higher-education grants are considered a “non-preferred allocation,” which requires a two-thirds majority vote to pass.
That means it would take fewer than 70 Democrats to kill the spending bill — a move that would affect not just Pitt but Penn State University, Lincoln University and Temple. Several Democrats told WESA Monday night that there were internal discussions about taking that step, and that the move was a real possibility.
A press conference held by Allegheny County Democrats Tuesday morning stopped short of committing the caucus to such a course. But state Rep. Austin Davis, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, said that he would vote against the entire appropriations bill, as some of his colleagues nodded in agreement.
Davis, a Pitt grad, said that "at a time when so many Americans are just barely scraping by, it's unconscionable that House Republicans think egos and partisan politics are more important than giving every Pennsylvania student an opportunity to succeed."
Davis and other speakers added that Republicans also risked damaging the prospects for potentially life-saving research. State Rep. Sara Innamorato said that "holding funding from the University of Pittsburgh hostage in this way threatens not just the affordability of college of a college education in Pennsylvania, but sends a chilling message to businesses and researchers."
No action was taking on the spending bill Tuesday. The state faces an end-of-month deadline for passing the budget, although there are signs that disputes between the two parties will not be resolved by then.
This story was updated at 4:00 p.m. on June 28, 2022 to include statements by House Democrats at a Tuesday press conference.
