Posted on 06/28/2010 2:12:43 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. appeals court on Friday reinstated a lawsuit that challenges an Obama administration policy for federal funding of some human embryonic stem cell research.
The unusual suit against the National Institutes of Health, backed by some Christian groups opposed to embryo research, argued that the NIH policy takes funds from researchers seeking to work with adult stem cells.
It also argues that new Obama administration guidelines on stem cell research are illegal.
The three-judge federal appeals panel did not rule on the merits of the lawsuit itself, but said two of the doctors involved had legal standing to file it.
A federal district court had earlier rejected the lawsuit, saying the challengers had no standing.
Stem cells are the body's master cells. There are several kinds, including those taken from days-old human embryos, which can give rise to all the cells and tissues in the body.
Some people oppose working with human embryonic stem cells, but President Barack Obama's administration reversed a policy that severely limited federal funding of such work.
The NIH will now pay for research using the cells, although it will not pay for the actual process of making the cells, which does involve human embryos. The use of federal funds to pay for the destruction of human embryos is forbidden by law.
The NIH also funds work with so-called adult stem cells, immature cells found throughout the body.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
The Japanese just announced that they’re getting great stem cells from the inside of teeth that have been pulled. No need to do the embryo method at all!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.