Final Stem Cell Guidelines Released
Final stem cell guidelines released
July7, 2009
By: Joshua Wolpe
The National Institutes of Health yesterday released final guidelines governing stem cell research that would allow more stem cells to be eligible for federally funded research.
The new guidelines overturned restrictions placed on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research by former President George W. Bush.
Final stem cell guidelines released
July7, 2009
By: Joshua Wolpe
The new guidelines overturned restrictions placed on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research by former President George W. Bush.
"We applaud the National Institutes of Health for releasing final guidelines on stem cell research, as called for in President Barack Obama's executive order," said Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., in a joint statement with Rep. Michael Castle, D-Del. DeGette and Castle are chief architects of legislation expanding stem cell research.
"Since 2001, we have been working to strengthen federal support for scientific research, including embryonic stem cell research, which potentially holds so much promise for the millions of Americans who are living with debilitating diseases such as Parkinson's, diabetes and spinal cord injury."
While President Obama lifted the Bush Administration's stem cell research restrictions in March, he allowed NIH to determine the ethical requirements in the final guidelines. NIH eased the so-called "informed consent" requirements designed to ensure that people who donated embryos for research knew exactly what they might be used for.
Opponents to embryonic stem cell research argue that human embryos should not be destroyed for medical purposes, as well as referencing the ethical issues raised by the informed consent requirements.
"The Obama NIH regulations virtually guarantee that many more living human embryos will be destroyed for research and that this destruction will occur without the parents of these embryos knowing all of their options — which include adopting the embryos to another pregnancy-challenged couple," according to statement from Carrie Gordon Earll, senior bioethics analyst for Focus on the Family Action. "This policy also creates a tax dollar incentive for scientists to destroy human embryos for a form of stem cell research that has not yielded a single cure or treatment."
Keith Mason, the founder of Personhood USA, an organization started in Colorado that has led efforts to define a fertilized egg as a person, views embryonic stem cell research as unnecessary.
"From what I can tell, Obama is forcing taxpayers to fund the killing of little, unique humans based on imaginary medical benefit. The problem is that they view littler humans as property, not people — it's just another reason we're pushing for a personhood amendment in Colorado," referring to the group's push to get a ballot item in this November's election that would give human rights to embryos.
DeGette and Castle said they "remain committed to formulating a bipartisan, bicameral consensus and sending complimentary legislation to the President, which will promote all ethical forms of stem cell research."