San Francisco (Obama.net)- In 2009, President Barack Obama and his administration went to work on a new measure that would allow for stem cell research. The Administration put together a set of guidelines for the research and set aside federal funding for those scientists who go into the field.
Monday, Judge Royce Lamberth decided that it was the right choice to stop the United States government from funding the research as it goes against what Congress believes is right. Lamberth argued that because embryos are destructed in stem cell research, it should not be allowed because of the Dickey Wicker Amendment for federal spending.
Lamberth said,” The Dickey Wicker Amendment unambiguously prohibits the use of federal funds for all research in which a human embryo is destroyed. It is not limited to prohibit federal funding of only the piece of research in which an embryo is destroyed.”
For the last near year and a half, the National Institutes of Health have been experimenting with embryonic stem cells using federal money. They were able to do so because of President Barack Obama’s executive order in early 2009 that overturned former President George W. Bush’s and his administration’s limit on federal funding for research involving stem cells.
One of the groups who led the lawsuit that caused the executive order’s funding to be halted was the Christian Medical Association.
The funding is only temporarily stopped as the lawsuit continues to be appealed through the United States judicial system.
Scientists are adamant about continuing their embryonic stem cell research as they see that they have the potential to fix numerous illnesses and disabilities.
The problem in the situation is that while embryonic stem cell research can bring about numerous benefits to those who need help with their ailing health, others believe that destruction of an embryo is equivalent to the murdering of a human life.
Members of the groups that filed the lawsuit and are continuing to fight to protect human embryos say that they have nothing against stem cell research, just not embryonic stem cell research.
Lamberth’s final judgment is currently being reviewed according to the United States Justice Department.
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