I was scrolling through my Twitter timeline one day and this tweet captured my attention. Actually, it sickened me. The fact that the federal government buys “fresh” aborted baby body parts is bad. However, if you read the entire article, you’ll read that some of the fetuses could have survived.
Now, this post is not a pro-life or right-to-life debate. It’s an awareness of the actions of the federal government, as well as a call to start questioning your health care professionals on how your body parts, DNA, etc. are being used. Of course, they may not tell us the truth, but we should at least start asking more questions.
For example, I am told to get blood work done at least once a year to determine if organs are functioning correctly; if the body is free of diseases; and if nutrient levels are normal. I have never bothered to ask what happens to my blood after testing. 
I assume that medical professionals are disposing of it. However, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot tells us otherwise.
Henrietta Lacks
Here’s a Marcie cliff note of this book. Henrietta Lacks had cervical cancer. Health care providers removed her cancer cells and they kept reproducing. These cells have been used to cure all forms of diseases, which is great. But here’s the problem. The medical professionals did not have permission to continue to reproduce her cells. They told her husband one thing to get his permission and did another.
What’s really disturbing is that scientists have gotten paid millions of dollars from Henrietta’s cells (HeLa cells) while her family received nothing. Well, they hadn’t by the end of the book. I don’t know if they received restitution after the publishing of the book or the release of the Henrietta Lacks movie in 2017. I’m not sure if the government profited from these cells, but it would not be surprising based on the opening article.
As I conducted research while writing this article, an article on Johns Hopkins Medicine website stated:
Although these were the first cells that could be easily shared and multiplied in a lab setting, Johns Hopkins has never sold or profited from the discovery or distribution of HeLa cells and does not own the rights to the HeLa cell line. Rather, Johns Hopkins offered HeLa cells freely and widely for scientific research.
Over the past several decades, this cell line has contributed to many medical breakthroughs, from research on the effects of zero gravity in outer space and the development of the polio vaccine, to the study of leukemia, the AIDS virus and cancer worldwide.
While we will not know if Johns Hopkins profited from the cells unless further research is conducted, I did read in the book that labs were created to reproduce and sell her cells. Somebody made money from her cells. Also keep in mind that just because Johns Hopkins may not have made money directly from selling HeLa cells, they could have received research grants from the government, which is an indirect form of payment.
And they are still being used today. According to this Harvard University article, “The HeLa cell line still lives today and is serving as a tool to uncover crucial information about the novel coronavirus.”
Question Health Care Providers
From this point forward, I want to encourage you to do a few things before, during and after your health care visits. Well, in all situations, but especially your medical visits:
- Read everything. There’s a reason why some things are considered fine print. People will give you the highlights of documents to get you to sign it, but conveniently leave out stuff that impacts you most. If there is something you don’t understand, ask for clarification.
- Ask questions. Inquire about the issue at hand; how it will impact other parts of your being; and long-term effects.
- Don’t sign anything until you’ve read everything.
- You can decline services. Don’t be afraid to say no.
- You can change providers. Sometimes you just don’t vibe with people or they may not have good energy.
What About You?
Do you ever question your health care providers about what happens to your DNA?
What would you do if you found out your DNA was being used without your permission and health care professionals and scientists were profiting from it?
Let us know in the comment box below.
Image credit: Ron Lach on Pexels