Colorado State University president Tony Frank has moved to limit the university’s use of fetal tissue following a national uproar over Planned Parenthood’s handling of post-abortion tissue and organs provided for medical research.

In a letter to Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn, Frank said he will suspend the purchase of fetal tissue for medical research from vendors such as Stem Express, which is caught up in the furor over Planned Parenthood, pending the outcome of a congressional investigation.

He also said that CSU will “seek alternatives to aborted fetal tissue sources” and request from vendors “all available information regarding the source of fetal tissue,” based on recommendations from the university’s Bioethics Advisory Committee.

“With this information, our institution and researchers can continue to assure that when research is conducted, we do so meeting our ethical standards,” Frank said in a July 23 letter to Lamborn.

Lamborn, who released the letter Monday, commended CSU for taking “some positive actions,” but said the university’s actions are insufficient.

“These steps are definitely headed in the right direction. However, they simply aren’t far enough,” Lamborn said in a Monday statement. “I call on President Frank to commit to no longer using aborted babies’ body parts in research. There are profound ethical, moral, and legal questions with this practice that deeply trouble many Coloradans.”

CSU’s decision comes as House and Senate committees, along with at least eight states, launch investigations into Planned Parenthood over its providing fetal tissue from abortions for research, following the release of two undercover videos by anti-abortion activists.

A third undercover video was released Tuesday by The Center for Medical Progress featuring Dr. Savita Ginde, vice president and medical director of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, who examines specimens and discusses them with an activist posing as a potential contractor.

The videos, the product of a three-year investigation by the pro-life Center for Medical Progress, show Planned Parenthood officials discussing how much to charge for donated fetal tissue, as well as surgical procedures best suited to leaving fetal organs intact.

Federal law prohibits altering abortion techniques for donation purposes and profiting from the sale of fetal tissue, although clinics are allowed to charge reimbursement costs related to processing tissue.

Planned Parenthood officials have denied any wrongdoing while attempting to shift the focus to those behind the videos. California Attorney General Kamala Harris, a Planned Parenthood supporter, launched an inquiry Friday into whether the center violated state law during its investigation.

Frank said CSU researchers have obtained “very minute sample sizes for research conducted at the cellular level using cells extracted from these small amounts of liver and thymus tissue” for use in one research project.

“Colorado State has only one research project that uses human fetal tissue in research, for an NIH-funded investigation into a cure for HIV/AIDS,” Frank said. “This research is fully compliant with state and federal law, and this project does not obtain any tissue directly from physicians or institutions that perform procedures for the induced termination of pregnancies, including Planned Parenthood.”

Since 2013, CSU has acquired fetal tissue through Advanced Bioscience Resources. Prior to that, the university contracted with Stem Express, the California-based company named in the controversy that advertises its services as “financially profitable” to abortion clinics.

“It is our understanding that ABR does not work via a for-profit model for fetal tissues; they only reimburse for costs incurred,” Frank said.

The university received a barrage of emails last week after Lamborn called on CSU in a press release to cease its use of fetal tissue in medical research. In his letter to Lamborn, Frank repeated that “we do not believe that Colorado State University has violated federal or Colorado state law.”

Frank also said he would also encourage “further federal oversight of fetal tissue providers that would result in greater transparency of their sources.”

Lamborn said he plans to introduce legislation later this week “designed to end this barbaric practice once and for all.”

“Revelations such as this highlight the murky underworld of suspect organizations, legal loopholes, and dubious ethics involving the use of fetal tissue,” he said.

– valrichardson17@gmail.com