--- title: Ben Carson Has Done Research on Fetal Tissue description: Ben Carson once did research on fetal tissue, despite his recent stance against Planned Parenthood's fetal tissue donation scandal. canonical: https://time.com/3996458/ben-carson-fetal-tissue/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-13T16:46:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:47:08.575Z article:section: Politics og:title: Ben Carson Has Done Research on Fetal Tissue og:description: Ben Carson once did research on fetal tissue, despite his recent stance against Planned Parenthood's fetal tissue donation scandal. og:url: https://time.com/3996458/ben-carson-fetal-tissue/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2dd7497f6a1a0456/69885e1b8e0601e30c461b8d/meet-the-candidates-ben-carson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4064 og:image:height: 2286 og:image:alt: Ben Carson og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ben Carson Has Done Research on Fetal Tissue twitter:description: Ben Carson once did research on fetal tissue, despite his recent stance against Planned Parenthood's fetal tissue donation scandal. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2dd7497f6a1a0456/69885e1b8e0601e30c461b8d/meet-the-candidates-ben-carson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ben Carson Used Fetal Tissue in Medical Research > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Aug 13, 2015 4:46 PM UTC  Ben Carson speaks at the Freedom Summit in Greenville, S.C., on May 9, 2015. Ben Carson speaks at the Freedom Summit in Greenville, S.C., on May 9, 2015. Rainier Ehrhardt—AP  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Aug 13, 2015 4:46 PM UTC Ben Carson, the neurosurgeon and Republican presidential candidate who has condemned Planned Parenthood’s donations of fetal tissue, once carried out research on tissue from aborted fetuses. Jen Gunter, an OB/GYN and science writer, [put on her blog](https://drjengunter.wordpress.com/2015/08/12/ben-carson-did-research-on-17-week-fetal-tissue/) Wednesday night a study co-authored by Carson in 1992 that used tissue from two fetuses aborted at nine and seventeen weeks, according to the paper. But in the wake of [hidden-camera videos](http://time.com/3966149/video-planned-parenthood-fetal-tissue/) alleging that Planned Parenthood illegally sold fetal tissue to researchers, Carson [told CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/28/politics/ben-carson-planned-parenthood/) that the organization “doesn’t seem to understand the sanctity of human life and is willing to destroy that” and “virtually everything that can be attributed to progress by using fetal tissue can also use other types of tissue.” Carson denies any contradiction between his stance on Planned Parenthood and his former research. He [told Buzzfeed](http://www.buzzfeed.com/virginiahughes/ben-carson-used-fetal-tissue), “Killing babies and harvesting tissue for sale is very different than taking a dead specimen and keeping a record of it, which is exactly the source of the tissue used in our research.” Planned Parenthood [admitted donating fetal tissue to researchers](http://time.com/3966149/video-planned-parenthood-fetal-tissue/) but has denied seeking payment beyond legal reimbursement for its costs. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3996458/ben-carson-fetal-tissue/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3996458/ben-carson-fetal-tissue/"},"headline":"Ben Carson Used Fetal Tissue in Medical Research","datePublished":"2015-08-13T16:46:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:47:08.575Z","description":"Despite condemning Planned Parenthood for donating it for research","url":"https://time.com/3996458/ben-carson-fetal-tissue/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election","Planned Parenthood","Dr. Benjamin S. 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