US judge refuses to lift ban on govt stem cell funds

[sabra]

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON, Sept 7 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Tuesday refused to lift a ban on federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research despite warnings from the Obama administration that it would set back key research and cost more than a thousand jobs.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth rejected the Obama administration's request to lift his injunction while the government appeals his ruling that barred federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research. (Reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky, Editing by Sandra Maler)

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/WEN9450.htm

[truebrit71]

1. Can't Obama just sign an EO and be done with it?

..that was Lt AWOL's solution all the time..

[BumRushDaShow]

4. This WAS his Executive Order lifting the ban that the court put a stay on.

Obama lifted the ban by Executive Order in March of 2009 right after he took office.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Removing-Barriers-to-Responsible-Scientific-Research-Involving-Human-Stem-Cells/">http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Removing-Barriers-to-Responsible-Scientific-Research-Involving-Human-Stem-Cells/

[RKP5637]

2. Yep, we can just let the rest of the world take the lead, they will anyway. The

ridiculous get even more ridiculous.

[awoke_in_2003]

6. the rest of the world...

took the lead some time ago, and will probably stay there.

[valerief]

3. Can't someone in power just "lift that death judge"?

[Vehl]

5. shooting ourselves in the foot, nt

[No Elephants]

7. Isn't the issue that Congress enacted the ban and the Constitution gives Congress exclusive power

over federal spending? Therefore, trying to use an Executive Order to overrule a federal spending law violates the Constitution.

If so, I cannot fault the judge, much as I wanted funding restored. He HAS to uphold that battered document. Congress has to act--and should have done so while we had 60 Senators in the Caucus. But, there's still "hope." A helpful number of Republicans supported embryonic stem cell research and, though I may be mistaken, I believe even LIEberman did.


On edit: Further info: the congressional ban is against spending for stem cell research that destroys any human embryo(s) or knowingly subject any human embryo(s) to risk of injury or death.


Judge's exact problem with Obama's EO is that it is written broadly enough to allow spending for stem cell research that does destroy human embryos or knowingly subject any human embryo(s) to risk of injury or death.


BUT:

"The Obama administration said that its rules abided by the Dickey-Wicker Amendment because the federal money would be used only once the embryonic stem cells were created but would not finance the process by which embryos were destroyed. The judge disagreed, writing that embryonic stem cell research “necessarily depends upon the destruction of a human embryo."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/24/health/policy/24stem.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&pagewanted=2&adxnnlx=1283941242-pDB3wNCEX+e6FoIM4w8TZA

Wonder if a clearer EO would be advisable? Dunno.