THE BLOOD BEHIND THE BEAUTY - FOETUS IN COSMECEUTICALS

This article is written by inspiration from the movie “Yashoda” starring Samantha, until watching it, I hardly would have thought the link between fetus and cosmeceuticals. Aftermath of the movie, curiosity peeped in, to know the truth value of facts shown on the screen. So, here is my perception about the film (Yashoda) concerning utilization of fetus in beauty creams.

What has been shown in the movie?

An institute called Eva, braced by the Central Minister and his associates which targets poor women for making them as surrogates (by fulfilling their monetary needs) to celebrities and huge barons of the society. When those women successfully complete their first trimester, they are handed over to the reticent institute, through the assistance of local hospitals wherein they are sumptuously taken care with all the facilities, but those women are getting widely disconnected from the outside world. Once, they reach their third trimester, they are induced with false pain and getting removed off the fetus from their wombs and left unaddressed. Later the heroine (Samantha) finds out that those removed fetuses are collected and stored in laboratories as assets for its usage in anti-ageing creams which are traded worldwide and those women are getting killed in that institute itself.

What is in the reality? - Allegations correspond to aborted fetal consumption

When I started to search through the facts, got to know that this controversy is not new. In the mid -1980’s, countries like England, US, Russia and France found that there were few clinics which were selling aborted fetuses to the cosmeceutical companies and those companies started advertising their products would rejuvenate the skin by deliberately mentioning the usage of fetal organs in their products. (Source: Human Life International, anti-abortion organisation). In Russia, it went worst where obstetricians lied to pregnant women about the health condition of fetuses and made abortions whereby sold and earned up to 5000 euros for a fetus based on their gestational age.

Few other blogs (of Nat Geo, Mc Gill and Rehumanize International) claim that fetal cells are being used in research since 1930s, which are getting collected by biotechnology companies or medical centers and kept reserved for future studies and research in laboratories. Apart from cosmetics, fetal cell lines are used in vaccines and for other purposes of research. (Vaccine needs viruses, those are cultured from human(fetal) cells, propagated, held frozen and gets used.)

In a blog of Mc Gill, author Ada McVean points that “2 abortions made before 50 years (1962&1966) helped in making vaccines against hepatitis A, rubella, shingles and other illnesses (ulcer, burns or scars)and it was calculated that 11 million deaths have been prevented by these vaccines.” Other than vaccines, it has been misrepresented that fetal tissues are used in food products as flavoring agents and in perfumes. Later it was established [by Senomyx, an American Biotechnology Company, revealed that they developed flavor enhancers(Ajinomoto, firmenich) and tested it by using taste receptors expressed from kidney cells of fetus aborted in 1973] that there were no fetal cells/tissues present in any of the final food products. The situation is same for vaccines, perfumes, cosmetics or any other products/processes from research, wherein fetal cells or tissues are not directly involved, but from which, cells/ viruses are further propagated and used in various forms of research.

The ethical and legal aspects of utilizing aborted fetal cells in several forms of research is being discussed for long time, it came to limelight when a San Francisco Company Neocutis entrenched that its skin cream (used for psoriasis, eczema and anti-wrinkle treatment) derived from patented processed skin protein (PSP) of an aborted 14 week old Swiss baby boy and further argued that its usage is legitimate by comparing it with the polio vaccine which saved numerous lives and was also awarded Noble Prize in 1954 since that vaccine has also been made from the cultured cell lines of aborted fetus.

So from the above analysis, it is true that cultured fetal cells are being used in several forms of research, even so it is not directly involved in any of the final products of research. Hence for fetal cells’ widespread usage, is it legal and ethical to cause abortions? Are abortions caused voluntarily to sell the fetus for commercial purposes as something shown in the film? Such questions remain unevaluated. 

                                                                                                                    Pic Courtesy: tfipost

How law governs this controversy?

When mother of an aborted foetus decides to voluntarily contribute the foetal collagen to research (like we pledge our organs post death as donation), there comes no question of ethics (up to individuals’ conscience) and legality. Even in that circumstances, no laws of any countries would allow elective (induced voluntary) abortions other than for personal health reasons of pregnant women. Almost in every countries of the world, there are strict and regulated abortion laws.

In US, the Uniform Anatomic Gift Act 1968, recognizes buying or selling fetal tissues as federal crime. And the Dignity for Aborted Children Act, 2021 protects the dignity of fetal remains. In India, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 regulates abortion with regard to certain pregnancies. Beyond the rules and regulations, WHO reports that “around 73 million induced abortions take place worldwide each year, six out of 10 (61%) of all unintended pregnancies, and 3 out of 10 (29%) of all pregnancies, end in induced abortion.” The statistic seems threatening however there is no exact evidence of any abduction of pregnant woman for seizing fetuses as shown in the above said movie.

After exploring this controversy (fetus being used in cosmetics), its obscure to come to a conclusion whether fetuses are being illegally snatched for its purpose in research or not? Considering the good causes (vaccines and in treatment of scars and repaired skin cells) for which fetal cell lines are used, we are safe to use fetuses for research with consent of aborted woman, when the abortion is caused naturally. But on the other side (as stated in above example), the undercover mafia at Russia (though not substantiated with accurate evidences), it is not legal and ethical to voluntarily cause the death of fetuses for its commercial usage in cosmeceuticals. Nevertheless for the laws and regulations that govern abortions, it feels like a threat which demands unassailable policies and regulations in regard to governing abortions and fetal disposals.

 

PS: Thanks to all the kindest hearts who read my previous post, that motivated me to write further. Let’s keep this space functional, I’ll try to bring more legal and legit research contents. All your suggestions, ideas and criticism are wholeheartedly welcomed. So please comment and share your views.

 

References:

1.    Mc Gill , Office for science and society, Ada Mc Vean, https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/test-you-asked/it-true-perfumes-contain-aborted-fetal-tissue (22 Mar, 2019)

2. Fetal Cells in the Cosmetics, Food, and Medical Industries, Stephanie Hauer, https://www.rehumanizeintl.org/post/fetal-cells-in-the-cosmetics-food-and-medical-industries  (14 Nov, 2020)

3.      Are Aborted Fetuses Used in Cosmetics, Brian Clowes, https://www.hli.org/resources/cosmetics-that-use-fetal-tissue/ (7 Jan, 2022)

4.    Aborted foetal cells in cosmetics? A dark world behind the anti-ageing creams, Shivam Jaiswal, https://tfipost.com/2022/11/aborted-foetal-cells-in-cosmetics-a-dark-world-behind-the-anti-ageing-   (13 Nov, 2022)

5.      WHO, https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/abortion (25 Nov 2021)