Contact: Mark Bradford, President, Jerome Lejeune Foundation, 267-403-2910

PHILADELPHIA, Penn., July 21, 2015 /Christian Newswire/ -- With the release of the second video by the Center for Medical Progress containing allegations that Planned Parenthood is selling fetal tissue derived from abortions at their facilities, the Jerome Lejeune Foundation wishes to affirm its ethical position on the use of human biological material in medical research that has been derived from a direct abortion.

In keeping with the medical and ethical standards of Dr. Jerome Lejeune, the Jerome Lejeune Foundation does not provide funding for any research that makes use of human embryonic or fetal tissue that has been obtained through direct abortion. All researchers who apply for funding from the Foundation are required to sign their assent to this requirement as part of their application for funding. In addition, the Foundation requires in its agreements that the results of the projects it funds will not be published in the same article as the results of other research that makes use of human embryonic or fetal cells or tissue.

The Jerome Lejeune Foundation believes that it is inconsistent with its mission to advocate for the inherent value of the lives of individuals with genetic intellectual disabilities from conception to natural death, and to accept a callous and utilitarian mentality toward human life, such as that evidenced in the statements captured on the two videos by Planned Parenthood senior medical administrative personnel.

The good intent of medical research to improve lives can never be served by the utilization of the weak and vulnerable as tools to that progress. To harvest material derived from direct abortion for medical research reduces the human fetus to a commodity, and signals cooperation in the intentional destruction of vulnerable human life.

About the Jerome Lejeune Foundation USA
The mission of the Jerome Lejeune Foundation USA is to raise and disburse funds in order to provide research, care, and advocacy to benefit those with genetic intellectual disabilities in accordance with the medical and ethical standards of Dr. Jerome Lejeune, the father of modern genetics. This is carried out by conducting, promoting, and funding therapeutically oriented research; by assisting in the development of healthcare services for these individuals; and by serving as their advocate in a spirit of respect for the dignity of all human persons.

Created in 1996 in Paris and in 2012 in the United States, the Jerome Lejeune Foundation is registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation serving those with genetic intellectual disabilities and their families.

More information at: www.LejeuneUSA.org