Court Suspends Ban On Stem Cell Research Funding

An appeals court in Washington, D.C. today issued a hold on a U.S. District Judge’s ruling prohibiting the Obama administration from funding embryonic stem cell research.

The Justice Department (DOJ) had appealed Judge Royce Lamberth’s decision last month to enjoin an executive order by President Obama that reversed the Bush administration’s decision to limit stem cell research. At the time, Obama argued that his decision to grant the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) the ability conduct such research would improve or save lives.

“Research involving human embryonic stem cells and human non-embryonic stem cells has the potential to lead to better understanding and treatment of many disabling diseases and conditions,” he wrote. “Advances over the past decade in this promising scientific field have been encouraging, leading to broad agreement in the scientific community that the research should be supported by Federal funds.”

The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a Christian legal group, sued the Obama administration over the order, saying it promoted the destruction of human embryos and would force Americans to pay for “experiments.” Conversely, the DOJ alleged that striking down the law would harm researchers and stall scientific progress.

Lamberth, a Reagan appointee, said his decision to side with ADF would return the federal policy to the “status quo.” Justice Department lawyers argued that such language was vague, and promised to appeal.

Today’s ruling means the administration can continue funding stem cell research while the court reviews Lamberth’s decision.

Politics and science do not mix well

The Center for American Progress held a discussion on “Science is the Stuff of Progress” to celebrate the release of a print version of its online magazine, Science Progress. Neal Lane, former director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy under President Clinton, said that the success of scientific research depends on a forward-looking political agenda and that the expansion of Science Progress will help encourage more funding to research.

Lane said that science and innovation are what America was built upon. He added that the government’s support of research and science must be restored with integrity so that science is not used to satisfy partisan desires. He said that policy must be based on the best science, rather than warped by politicization. He added that funding for high-risk research, especially on stem cells, is necessary.

Kit Batten, the managing director of energy and environmental policy at the Center for American Policy, said that the Bush administration has politicized science, inhibiting necessary progress. Andrew Baden, professor and chairman of the Department of Physics at the University of Maryland said that U.S. infrastructure is in decay. He said that public universities have obsolete labs.