Stem Cell Research Shocker

Lead article in today’s New York Times: Judge Calls Halt to Stem Cell Aid Backed by Obama

The decision by a judge yesterday to halt embryonic stem cell research authorized by the Obama administration came as a shock to scientists in the field but represented a return to the rule of law passed by Congress regardless of your perspective on the debate.

The ruling by Chief Judge Royce Lamberth of Federal District Court described the current practice of funding the creation of stem cells — through the destruction of embryos — with private money, then using federal funds for research, using those new stem cells, with public money. Judge Lamberth said that the distinction was meaningless since the research required the initial destruction of stem cells to proceed. It represented a direct interpretation of the law whatever your side in the stem cell debate.

The law, the Dickey-Wicker Amendment, prohibits federal financing for “research in which a human embryo or embryos are destroyed, discarded or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death.” It is passed every year by Congress.

Those who support stem cell research, a highly controversial issue, should lobby to get the law changed. And much as I support the Obama administration, an executive order should not be used to contravene a law, only to interpret it.