Justice Dept. Asks Federal Judge To Allow Stem-Cell Research While Case Is Appealed

email to a friend

printer friendly

opinions

Current Article Ratings:

Patient / Public:
Healthcare Prof:

The Wall Street Journal: "The Obama administration asked a federal judge Tuesday to allow the government to continue funding embryonic stem-cell research while a case challenging the program makes its way through the courts. The judge, Royce Lamberth in Washington, D.C., ordered a temporary halt last week to the funding, saying it violated a federal law that prohibits the use of public funds for research that involves the destruction of human embryos. The Justice Department said the halt would cause irreparable harm to experiments and could negate 'years of scientific progress' toward new treatments for a range of diseases" (Meckler, 9/1).

Reuters: The Justice Department "also appealed against the injunction" by Judge Lamberth "in which he ruled National Institutes of Health funding of human embryonic stem cell research violated a law called the Dickey-Wicker Amendment, which bars federal funding of work that involves destroying embryos. .... The administration pointed to 24 projects up for renewed federal funding between now and the end of September and said the benefits from the research could be lost. If the projects ended, it would waste $64 million already invested, the administration said. ... The Justice Department asked Lamberth to rule by September 7 on the request to lift his injunction" (Pelofsky, 8/31).

The Associated Press: President George W. Bush "allowed taxpayer-funded research on 21 stem cell lines. Obama expanded - up to 75 so far - the number that could be used if the woman or couple who donated an embryo did so voluntarily and were told of other options, such as donating that embryo to an infertile woman. ... The lawsuit was filed by two scientists who argued that Obama's expansion jeopardized their ability to win government funding for research using adult stem cells - ones that have already matured to create specific types of tissues - because it will mean extra competition" (Holland, 8/31).

The Hill: "Anti-abortion groups, who cheered Lamberth's ruling, are now slamming the White House for appealing it" (Lillis, 8/31).

This information was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at kaiserhealthnews.org.

© Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

• Additional
• References
• Citations