A lawsuit has been filed against the University of Minnesota, alleging their use of fetal tissue for research broke Minnesota State Statute.
The University originally told lawmakers in the summer of 2015 they did not do research on aborted fetuses. It wasn’t until the following October that Alpha News discovered purchase orders showing the University was lying about its use of fetal tissue. The University quickly backtracked on their original statement when their actions came into question the following legislative session in 2016. Brian Gibson with Pro-Life Action Ministries is filing the petition against the university.
Gibson says, “It surprised us and shocked us that again, our public institution, this educational institution, which is the premier public institution educationally in the state of Minnesota, is violating the law.”
U of M Students protested last year when the Alpha News story broke.
Graduate student Bridget Busacker is adding her name to Gibson’s on the lawsuit, saying the integrity of the University matters to taxpayers and tuition-paying students, stating, “I believe that improvements need to be and that this illegal action that it’s taking needs to be addressed for the reputation and the integrity of its future research.”
Attorney for the case Erick Kaardal says the hope is for the University to stop violating state law by performing research on aborted fetuses, and to restore its good name. Kaardal explains, “Our hope is that the University of Minnesota’s reputation can be restored, because when the University of Minnesota violated the law, it violates all of us. We spend hundreds of millions of dollars on this University of Minnesota and its reputation, and for it to be violating Minnesota’s laws, it’s horrible, and it’s horrifying.”
Kaardal says the lawsuit is filed with the Hennepin County District Court, and they are waiting for a hearing date.
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