The Biden administration on Friday moved to unwind strict Trump-era restrictions on federal-funded medical research using fetal tissue obtained by abortions, reversing policies that scientists warned would devastate the development of treatments for a broad range of diseases.

The Trump administration, under pressure from allied anti-abortion groups, ended fetal tissue research at the National Institutes of Health and established an ethics board to review government support for the research at universities and other labs. The board, which was filled with critics of the research, met just once and rejected 13 of 14 projects that NIH scientists had deemed worthy of support.

The Trump administration had announced its policy in 2019 after a long internal battle between political appointees and career scientists, who argued that the research was essential and conducted ethically.

Medical groups urged Biden to reverse the ban shortly after he took office, saying that it left “highly worthy, scientifically meritorious research” unfunded and […]