Obama Poised to Reverse Bush's Taliban-Like, Big Brother Stem Cell Policy

[The Night Owl]

What a great title...

Obama Poised to Reverse Bush's Taliban-Like, Big Brother Stem Cell Policy

February 17, 2009 11:45 AM ET | Bonnie Erbe | Permanent Link | Print
By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

I've certainly criticized President Obama enough since he's taken office and even more when he was a presidential candidate. But I don't hesitate to applaud him when he does something right. One of his advisers told a Sunday television talk show that the president is on the precipice of overturning yet another Bush administration policy that pushed us back. George W. Bush's stem cell policy pushed us so far back, in fact, that when the Clinton administration ended in 2000, we felt like a country moving forward. When Mr. Bush left office last month, he'd pushed the country back to the 1950s.

"In 2001, Bush limited federal funding for stem cell research only to human embryonic stem cell lines that already existed. It was a gesture to his conservative Christian supporters who regard embryonic stem cell research as destroying potential life, because the cells must be extracted from human embryos. Embryonic stem cells are the most basic human cells which can develop into any type of cell in the body. Scientists believe the research could eventually produce cures for a variety of diseases, including Parkinson's disease, diabetes, heart disease and spinal cord injuries."

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http://www.usnews.com/blogs/erbe/2009/02/17/obama-poised-to-reverse-bushs-taliban-like-big-brother-stem-cell-policy.html

[AB_Positive]

1. Finally!

To think... I read in the GLBT forum of a man whose HIV infection went away after a stem-cell injection meant to treat his leukemia (from a donor who was HIV resistant... they had thought it out). Once embryonic is allowed... we could cure a lot of problems. Slowly, ever so slowly, we seem to be improving!

[PM Martin]

2. Welcome back to the world America!

:party:

[aquart]

3. He hasn't done it yet?