Thirty-six members of Congress have signed on to join their voices with those of the physicians, scientists, and bioethicists of the KIE-led Second Wave Initiative who demand that the government ensure that more pregnant women are responsibly included as medical research subjects.
Led by Director Maggie Little, along with Senior Research Scholar Ruth Faden and physician colleague Annie Lyerly, members of the Second Wave Initiative have long been involved in advocacy for the rights of women and children in the domain of research ethics. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is currently revising its “common rule” regulations on human participation in research, and invited public comment before those revisions are finalized. Little and GU’s Office of Federal Relations sprang into action. An original letter from Second Wave signatories was sent to HHS in October, with a second letter from the 36 members of Congress going to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Wednesday, January 25.