Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Legal or Not?

RNC for Life Report: The battle over research on embryonic stem cells, which destroys human embryos, has been an up-anddown proposition, frequently in the news in recent weeks. First came a good court ruling, then a temporary reversal of that ruling, and now the limbo of waiting for a definitive ruling on the appeal.

On September 28, 2010 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit reversed the preliminary injunction issued by Chief Judge Royce Lamberth of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. on August 23. Judge Lamberth’s ruling had halted federal funding for embryo-destructive research. The reversal decision allows federal funding of embryo destructive research to continue until the case is decided.

Two scientists working on alternatives to controversial embryonic stem cell research filed the original suit, and Judge Lamberth’s ruling determined that the Obama administration’s funding violated the Dickey-Wicker law which bars federal taxpayer dollars being spent for research using human embryonic stem cells. The National Institutes of Health, however, maintained that the Dickey-Wicker measure only applied to creating new embryos for research purposes, but that research using existing embryos was not prohibited.

The Obama administration appealed Judge Lamberth’s ruling and on September 9, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court temporarily lifted the injunction, pending further consideration. The September 28 decision means that experimentation on embryos can continue as the original lawsuit works its way through the courts.

In the meantime, your tax dollars are paying for the destruction of pre-born human embryos, and a recent Rasmussen poll showed that only about one-third of those polled approve of using tax money to fund this research. The case is expected ultimately to end up at the United States Supreme Court, and given the recent addition of ultra-liberal Justice Elena Kagan, pro-lifers have reason to be concerned about the eventual decision.

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