Slashdot Mirror
NIH Orders Halt To Embryonic Stem Cell Research
sciencehabit writes "Responding to a court order issued a week ago, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on Friday ordered intramural researchers studying human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) to shut down their experiments. NIH's action — probably unprecedented in its history — is a response to a preliminary injunction on 23 August from US District Judge Royce Lamberth. The judge ruled that the Obama policy allowing NIH funding to be used to study hESC lines violates a law prohibiting the use of federal funds to destroy embryos."
Funny you should ask -- that's approximately the reasoning that the government used in the court case to try to say it was legal. Basically, they said "We're not funding the destruction, we're just funding all of the other activities that constitute research." The judge wasn't buying it -- the statute doesn't say "Federal money cannot be used to destroy embryos." It says (approximately) "Federal money cannot be used to fund research in which embryos are destroyed." And, under the relevant regulations, "research" was defined as the entire end-to-end process. In case anybody thinks this was an out-of-control judge on a philosophical bent, I'll note that this was the second time he heard the case -- the first time, he dismissed it because he didn't think the people suing had standing to sue. It was only after they appealed and WON that he decided to grant the preliminary injunction.
Actually, when it comes to stem cell research, they'll never have a cerebral cortex. That's 'cause the stem cells are left over from IVF treatment. Abortion only enters the picture because the anti-abortion people have decided to make stem cell research part of their cause, not because the stem cells are connected to abortions.
This is a lawsuit that cites Federal statutory law which Obama signed .