MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Abortion opponents who challenged the University of Minnesota's use of aborted fetal tissue for medical research have lost an appeal.

The ruling was issued Monday by the state Court of Appeals. It says the lawsuit
filed in 2016 by Pro-Life Action Ministries is moot because the Legislature
clarified the law, which allowed the research, while the case was pending.

The lawsuit had argued that the university was violating a decades-old law that said using aborted fetal remains was restricted to tests necessary for the health of a woman, her future children or a criminal investigation.

The court noted that a 2017 law allows fetal tissue research as long as it's approved by the Fetal Tissue Research committee, a university oversight panel.

An attorney for the anti-abortion group didn't immediately respond to the newspaper's request for comment.

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