Lamberth Ruling Puts US At Back of Stem-Cell Research Bus

HopeTracker| Conservatives have brought some of the most critical research into breakthrough treatments for diseases from diabetes to Parkinson’s to a grinding halt.

Chief Judge Royce C. Lamberth of Federal District Court for the District of Columbia issued a temporary injunction blocking President Obama’s rules freeing stem cell research already in effect and bringing results. The Justice Department said it would ask for the injunction to be lifted, pending its appeal.

Representative Diana DeGette, a Colorado Democrat who is a leading proponent of stem cell science, said in an interview that she had briefed fellow Democrats on Tuesday morning by conference call on the decision. She urged them to quickly revive a measure — twice passed by Congress and twice vetoed by President George Bush — that would legalize the studies and codify the policy Mr. Obama announced in March 2009. via NYTimes

The US seriously lags the rest of the world in this scientific research and experts warn that if Judge Lamberth’s ruling is sustained, many scientists wil leave the US to complete their research in foreign countries.

Those countries far advanced from the US in their stem-cell research policies include China, India, Saudi Arabia and Singapore. In 2008 the Pew Research Forum on Religion & Public Life covered this topic in depth. Read Stem Cell Research Around the World.