Obama to overturn Bush policy on funding stem cell research

[Glenn]

Obama to overturn Bush policy on funding stem cell research

The executive order undoes former President George W. Bush's directive that was based on his determination that using embryos to create additional stem cell lines was morally wrong and, therefore, research on those lines should not be funded by the government.

Yay, science!

[Tahoe]

I understand both sides on this thing, but don't really have much of an opinion which is why I'm now wondering why I replied.

[Tahoe]

I just saw a lil bit on this. Bush allowed stem cell research on those 22 lines(?) that could yeild thousands of something or others, but didn't want to create more embryos to destroy the new ones. Didn't Taymelo's sig say something about that?

Anyway, adult stem cell research is where most of the gains have been made, not embryos...according to some dude on tube.

[Hermy]

The critics contend that there are other routes to get the benefits of stem cell research that do not involve the use of human embryos. Some opponents of stem cell research even have the chutzpah to argue that treatments using adult stem cells — which occur naturally in some parts of the human body such as bone marrow and the lining of our intestinal tracts — have been more effective in curing diseases then embryonic stem cells.

It is true that more than 40 years of federal funding of adult stem cell research has produced certain effective treatments such as bone marrow transplants. But after eight year of zero-budget funding of embryonic stem cell research, it is hardly fair and completely disingenuous for critics to point to the practice and wonder why it lags four decades behind government-funded adult stem cell research.

[UxKa]

The 'Obama supports third trimester abortions' lunatics are going to have fun with this one. 'Well, it's a bigger baby to harvest stem cells from, you know?'

[jturbo]

The 'Obama supports third trimester abortions' lunatics are going to have fun with this one. 'Well, it's a bigger baby to harvest stem cells from, you know?'

Um........can anyone be kind enough to explain to me the Obama and third trimester abortion thing. I have tried doing my own research, but I'm obviously not good at researching. I swear I can't go a week without hearing about Obama wanting to kill babies, but I do live in west Michigan, so big surprise.

[UxKa]

Jill Stanek. There's a crumb to get you started.

A lot of it stems from this:
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Inter...6716958&page=1

[Uncle Mxy]

The Nancy Reagan seal of approval should warm social conservative hearts:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/200...5jeXJlYWdhbnA-

Under fire from congressional Republicans for lifting restrictions on stem cell research, President Barack Obama got a powerful endorsement for his move Monday from Nancy Reagan, the former president’s wife.

“I’m very grateful that President Obama has lifted the restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research,” she wrote in a statement released shortly after Obama reversed the Bush administration limits. “These new rules will now make it possible for scientists to move forward. I urge researchers to make use of the opportunities that are available to them and to do all they can to fulfill the promise that stem cell research offers."

Nancy Reagan has been an outspoken advocate of stem cell research — and scientists hope that the research could someday lead to a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, which afflicted her late husband, Ronald Reagan.

Her statement also illustrates how support for the research crosses party lines, even though many in the anti-abortion movement strongly oppose the research on moral and ethical grounds.

Reagan continued, “Countless people, suffering from many different diseases, stand to benefit from the answers stem cell research can provide. We owe it to ourselves and to our children to do everything in our power to find cures for these diseases — and soon. As I’ve said before, time is short, and life is precious.”

[Tahoe]

The Nancy Reagan seal of approval should warm social conservative hearts:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/200...5jeXJlYWdhbnA-

Nope, it didn't. I heard a number of them today.

[Wilfredo Ledezma]

I don't think conservatives care what Nancy Reagan thinks.

It's sad to see embryos be destroyed for unproven scientific gain.

Especially when it's coming at the the expense of the US taxpayers.

I hope that at some point in the future this practice is either overturned or privatized.