But as with any cutting-edge science, use of fetal tissue is not without its objectors. The samples used in research typically are taken from aborted fetuses or embryos that are not implanted during in-vitro fertilization procedures. Some people feel that human status begins at conception, thus using human beings for experimental procedures is immoral. They have powerful backers in conservative politicians, religious organizations and even some medical professionals, all of whom lobby against the continued use of fetal tissue in research.

In 2009, the National Institutes of Health instituted guidelines for how fetal tissue and embryos could be used in scientific research, revising and renewing regulations that had been on the books from the 1990s, when the United States Department of Health and Human Services issued the first instructions.

The NIH decision has quelled a lot of the outrage at fetal tissue use, but not all of it. The recent controversy over Planned Parenthood allegedly selling embryos revived some of the ire expressed by the religious community and other moral objectors, all of them absolutely against using fetal tissue and embryos for medical research. It is sure that further government revisions will be necessary as research continues in the field.

One of the key issues in fetal tissue research is the matter of consent. Under the current law, a woman must decide to have an abortion before she can be approached about donating aborted tissues for medical research. This rule was instituted to prevent swaying that very private decision and because people with moral objections were concerned that some women would have more abortions because they felt compelled to be fetal tissue donors. The clinics that perform abortions cannot receive payments for fetal tissue donations, except for shipping, as a way to curtail fetal tissue profiteering, and the alleged discussions captured on the video seemed to indicate that payments were, in fact, being delivered to Planned Parenthood.