"Kenny Dies" is the thirteenth episode of the fifth season of the animated television series South Park, and the 78th episode of the series overall. "Kenny Dies" originally aired in the United States on December 5, 2001 on Comedy Central and in the United Kingdom on April 20, 2002 on Sky One. In the episode, Cartman comes across a truckload of fetuses he cannot sell thanks to a recent government ruling on stem cell research. When Kenny is diagnosed with a terminal illness, Cartman uses it to lobby Congress to restore stem cell research. The episode was written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker and is rated TV-MA in the United States, except on syndicated broadcasts and post-2017 reruns on Comedy Central, where the episode is instead rated TV-14. The gag of Kenny dying in almost every episode was dropped after this episode, and he did not reappear bodily until "Red Sleigh Down." This was the final appearance of the "4th Grade" title sequence, which was first seen in "4th Grade." On the DVD commentary for the episode, Parker and Matt Stone state that they had originally planned to kill Kyle off for a year, but decided to kill Kenny instead as they were running out of original ways to kill him. Plot The episode begins in an abortion clinic with a woman giving her permission for doctors to use her aborted fetus for stem cell research. However, the truck transporting the fetuses to a medical research facility is destroyed in an accident. Its cargo is noticed and subsequently stolen by Cartman (riding his bike and singing Sheena Easton's "Morning Train"), who intends to resell the fetuses for a tremendous profit. This goal leads him to call various institutions in the style of a fast-talking agent, with the famous recurring line, "you're breaking my balls here", finally landing a deal with a government organization. To his dismay, the government puts a ban on stem cell research immediately afterward. Meanwhile, Kenny is diagnosed with what is presumably muscular dystrophy, and his friends and family are told that he will probably die. The boys are shocked and saddened by the news, but do everything they can to support him and keep him company during his stay in the hospital – all but Stan, who cannot bear to see Kenny dying and refuses to visit him. This marks one of the few