President will end restrictions on government funding for research crucial for developing new medical treatments
Daniel Nasaw in Washington
guardian.co.uk, Friday 6 March 2009 23.38 GMT
Barack Obama will overturn an important medical research policy of George Bush's presidency on Monday, by ending restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research which scientists consider crucial for the development of new medical treatments.
The move was confirmed yesterday by the White House, rescinding a ban put in place by Bush in August 2001.
...Throughout his tenure Bush was accused of substituting ideology for scientific evidence on issues such as stem cell research, energy and birth control...
Overturning the ban on funding will cheer patients, doctors and scientists, who maintained that it was a politically motivated act that ignored science....
Embryonic stem cells are prized in medical research because they can develop into any kind of tissue....
But the research raises profound ethical questions, because human embryos - typically conceived in vitro - are destroyed so that stem cells may be harvested. Conservatives say it creates human life only to end it...
Obama's executive order will re-energise social conservatives already angry that Obama rescinded a ban on US funding for foreign aid groups that provide or advise on abortions.
"Today's news that President Obama will open the door to direct taxpayer funds for embryonic stem cell research that encourages the destruction of human embryos is a slap in the face to Americans who believe in the dignity of all human life," said Tony Perkins, president of the conservative Family Research Council.
Read entire article: Obama Ends Bush Ban On Embryo Stem Cell Work
