“Sometimes these tissues and organs can be obtained after routine surgeries like gall bladder removal from adults or foreskin removal during the circumcision of newborns,” he noted, and “the use of such tissues and organs can be morally acceptable if the patient (or the parents of the newborn) provide informed consent.” Also, in cases of “a natural miscarriage,” he said, “the use of cells and tissues from fetuses can also be morally acceptable” when the consent to do so is given by the parent of the dead baby.
However, using fetal tissue of aborted babies “raises significant moral concerns,” he added. Although the law allows for fetal tissue procurement from aborted babies done with the consent of the mother, this “consent” is essentially “void,” Fr. Tad explained, “because she [the mother] would have already categorically demonstrated that she does not have the best interests of her child in mind, having arranged for the taking of that child’s life.”
And the use of remains of aborted babies for research is
“unconscionable,” he added, because “in the absence of proper informed
consent, taking organs or tissues from the corpse would represent a
further violation of the integrity of the child’s body and constitute a
failure to respect the remains of the dead.”