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Judge
Royce Lamberth has
issued
a preliminary injunction
against federal
funding of embryonic
stem cell research
because it violates
United States law under
the Dickey Amendment.
The Dickey Amendment
says "(a) None of the
funds made available in
this Act may be used
for-
(1) the creation of a
human embryo or embryos
for research purposes;
or
(2) research in which a
human embryo or embryos
are destroyed,
discarded, or knowingly
subjected to risk of
injury or death greater
than that allowed for
research on fetuses in
utero under 45 CFR
46.208(a)(2) and Section
498(b) of the Public
Health Service Act
[1](42 U.S.C. 289g(b))
(Title 42, Section
289g(b), United States
Code).
As
Judge Lamberth notes,
"The Dickey-Wicker
Amendment is
unambiguous. It
prohibits research in
which a human embryo is
destroyed, discarded, or
knowingly subject to
risk of injury or death
greater than that
allowed under applicable
regulations." "ESC
(embryonic stem cell)
research is clearly
research in which an
embryo is destroyed."
And therefore, "The
Guidelines (instituted
by the Obama
Administration) violate
that prohibition by
allowing federal funding
of ESC research because
ESC research depends up
on the destruction of a
human embryo."
We
agree, but the Obama
Administration, like the
Clinton administration,
thought they found a way
to legally fund
embryonic stem cell
research (ESCR) under
the Dickey Amendment.
Both administrations
separated embryonic stem
cell research into
different "pieces of
research," destroying
the embryo and creating
an embryonic stem cell
line/culture, and
performing research on
the embryonic stem cell
line that has been
created by destroying
the embryo. Both
administrations argued
that as long as the
government didn't fund
the destruction of the
embryo, it could fund
research on embryonic
stem cell lines created
by private funds.
The
judge didn't buy that
argument: "Despite
defendants' attempt to
separate the derivation
of ESCs from research on
the ESCs, the two cannot
be separated. Derivation
of ESCs from an embryo
is an integral step in
conducting ESC research.
Indeed, it is just one
of many steps in the
"systematic
investigation" of stem
cell research. 45 C.F.R.
§ 46.102(d). Simply
because ESC research
involves multiple steps
does not mean that each
step is a separate
"piece of research" that
may be federally funded,
provided the step does
not result in the
destruction of an
embryo. If one step or
"piece of research" of
an ESC research project
results in the
destruction of an
embryo, the entire
project is precluded
from receiving federal
funding by the
Dickey-Wicker Amendment.
Because ESC research
requires the derivation
of ESCs, ESC research is
research in which an
embryo is destroyed.
Accordingly, the Court
concludes that, by
allowing federal funding
of ESC research, the
Guidelines are in
violation of the
Dickey-Wicker
Amendment."
The
judge also noted that
his injunction "would
not seriously harm ESC
researchers because the
injunction would simply
preserve the status quo
and would not interfere
with their ability to
obtain private funding
for their research. In
addition, the harm to
individuals who suffer
from diseases that one
day may be treatable as
a result of ESC research
is speculative. It is
not certain whether ESC
research will result in
new and successful
treatments for diseases
such as Alzheimer's and
Parkinson's disease."
Meanwhile, non embryonic
stem cell breakthroughs
keep coming.
The
injunction is temporary
and could be lifted by a
higher court. Lawmakers
are also threatening to
take action and write
the Obama policy into
law. And since the
Dickey amendment is a
yearly amendment that
has been passed every
year since 1996 it and
can be left out or
vetoed by the President.
We'll keep you posted.
Read Dr. Keith Shonnard
MD and Don Nelson's Reno
Gazette Journal op-ed
Embryonic Stem Cell
Research is Unethical,
Dangerous and
Unnecessary on why
we oppose embryonic stem
cell research and the
Obama policy.
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