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An age of medical miracles is dawning. Obama administration federal funding rules for embryonic stem cells, or ES cells, will open wide the money floodgates for "the most remarkable potential of any scientific discovery ever made with respect to human health." It has "the capacity to cure maladies of all sorts,including cancer, heart disease, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's," and spinal cord injuries. Or so says Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) among others. But paraplegics shouldn’t post their wheelchairs on EBay just yet. If these cures are just around the corner, this corner is far, far away. And that's according to ES cell researchers...

Bioethics: The former director of the National Institutes of Health, once an enthusiast for embryonic stem cells, now says their future has "dimmed." So why is the administration bailing out research into such therapies while troubled states like California have committed billions?Aside from creating or saving a few research jobs, the administration's decision to federally fund embryonic stem cell research is, as we've noted, a bailout of bad science. It throws money at an avenue of research that time and adult stem cell progress have passed by. Applauding the administration's move was Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., who echoed the claims...

Science: The president's Council on Bioethics is summarily dismissed when it disagrees on the need for more federally funded embryonic stem cell research. The scientific method doesn't include firing those who disagree with you.Inspectors general are apparently not the only ones to pay for annoying the White House by doing their job. The 18-member council existed to provide the president with advice on the moral and ethical implications of the rapid advances in science and medical research. It exists no more. The council existed to ponder whether we should do something just because we can. Apparently President Obama wanted not...

Tuesday June 23, 2009 Obama Abruptly Sacks Bio-ethics Panel Critical of Embryonic Stem-Cell Research By Peter J. SmithWASHINGTON, D.C., June 23, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The White House has dismissed the members of the President’s US Council on Bioethics just a few months before their mandate expires, indicating their services are no longer required by the President and that he is looking for a more “practical� advisory board. The New York Times reported that Reid Cherlin, a White House press officer, told the paper that President Barack Obama saw them as "a philosophically leaning advisory group" designed by the previous...

Researchers have announced a breakthrough that could end the ethical debate surrounding stem-cell research. The groundbreaking technique would allow the conversion of adult cells into an embryonic-like state. Researchers have been competing in recent years to reach just such a discovery, which would allow them to perform their work without using the controversial embryonic stem cell lines. Scientists at the the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego believe the key to their success is converting the cells by using recombinant proteins, which eliminates subsequent genetic alterations that typically occur during later stages. "Instead of inserting the four genes into the...

On Friday, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi dismissed critics of federal funding of life-killing embryonic stem-cell research with this argument: “We’ve had a situation where it’s faith or science — take your pick,” Pelosi said about how the administration of George W. Bush allegedly dealt with the funding issue and other hot-button issues that involve making moral choices about scientific research. “We’re saying science is an answer to our prayers.” Added Pelosi, “We need science, science, science, science, science.” At his Secondhand Smoke blog, bioethicist Wesley Smith demolishes Pelosi’s claim that embryonic stem-cell research represents state-of-the-art science. In fact,...

Here’s Josh Brahm explaining this “Oprah” spot, in which Dr. Oz comes out against embryonic stem-cell research on scientific grounds (Warning: In it he handles, pokes and slices a real human brain).  Catholics remember sadly that Michael J. Fox was a huge proponent of clone-and-kill stem-cell research. How ironic that President Obama, who claims to want to “follow science” is funding precisely the kind of research that the medical community is abandoning. See Josh Brahm’s essay “9 Things the Media Messed Up About the Obama Stem Cell Story.”On the “Oprah” show, Dr. Mehmet Oz handles the brain of a 50-year-old...

Obama’s anti-life ideology ... Obama is not opposed to restricting adult stem cell research, because the same executive order which gives funding to embryonic stem cell research takes away funding from adult stem cell research. This is a senseless move on the part of the president; the only stem cell research he is interested in funding is precisely the most dangerous kind, the only kind that a large segment of the population is opposed to on moral grounds, and the only one that has consistently failed to produce the promised ‘miracle cure’ results. If he were really concerned about life-saving...

WASHINGTON: For all the past week's headlines about embryonic stem cells' medical promise there is a sobering reality: The science to prove that promise will take years, probably too long for many of today's seriously ill. On his desk at Children's Hospital Boston, Harvard stem cell researcher Dr. George Daley keeps a file about 3 inches thick of e-mails and letters from patients and families who hope his work could help them. They are both inspiration and caution. "It took much of the 20th century to figure out how to deliver chemicals as drugs," noted Daley. "We should be humble...

I was shocked to hear from two sources that Obama is going to rescind Bush's policy of using Federal money from going for NONembryonic stem cell research. So Obama wants Federal dollars for immoral embryonic stem cell which do not work, but wants to take away money for ethical stem cells which DO work!

...President Obama’s reversal of the embryonic stem cell ban sentences these embryos to the category of disposable life, a clear indicator that the president values the free exercise of science over the life of the unborn. But there is much more to the president’s decision. Dr. Guliuzza continued:

President Barack Obama signed a law that explicitly bans federal funding of any “research in which a human embryo or embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death” only two days after he lifted President Bush’s executive order banning federal funding of stem cell research that requires the killing of new human embryos. The law banning any federal funding of research that kills or risks injury to embryos was included in the language of the $410-billion omnibus appropriation bill that President Obama signed Wednesday. Known as the Dickey-Wicker amendment, the language has been included in...

AMA Supports President's Decision to Fund Stem Cell Research For immediate release March 9, 2009 Statement attributable to: Joseph Heyman, MD Board Chair, American Medical Association "The American Medical Association supports President Obama's decision to lift the ban on federal funding of stem cell research. Stem cell research holds great promise to treat diseases that science has so far been unable to cure, and this change in policy will allow researchers to accelerate their efforts by applying for federal research funds. "The AMA supports biomedical research on stem cells and has encouraged strong public support of federal funding for this...

LONDON, March 12, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - An Oxford University stem cell expert has urged the use of aborted children in organ transplants as a solution to the shortage of available organs. Sir Richard Gardner has called for a feasibility study on the possibility of obtaining organs from the bodies of aborted babies.He said, "It is probably a more realistic technique in dealing with the shortage of kidney donors than others."The Daily Mail reports that pro-life and Christian groups have called the proposal "morally abhorrent," and said it will result in abortions being timed to suit transplant patients. Dr Peter...

In a move that shocked no one, President Barack Obama reversed President George W. Bush’s executive order to ban government-funded human embryonic stem cell (ESC) research on new embryonic stem cell strains. This decision has caused many to rejoice and many to lament. Some question the timing: lifting the stem cell research funding ban is a political win for Obama at a time when he’s losing public opinion ground on the economy. It also puts Republicans on defense — moderates and Democrats favor embryonic stem cell research, while conservatives dislike it. Moderate Republicans welcome the policy shift because they view...

Obama ESCR policy change a ‘slap in the face’ to pro-lifers, critics say President Barack Obama Washington D.C., Mar 9, 2009 / 04:58 pm (CNA).- Catholic and Pro-life leaders have reacted critically to President Barack Obama’s overturning of federal restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, characterizing the policy change as a “slap in the face” to pro-lifers and arguing that scientific advancement should not come by destroying embryonic human life. On Monday, President Obama overturned President George W. Bush’s 2001 executive order which barred funding for any embryonic stem cell research (ESCR) that uses embryonic stem cell lines created after...

Stem Cell Research Finally Unleashed! (Follow it via JDRF’s New Twitter) As a person with Type 1 diabetes, whose life is all wrapped up in helping others with this incurable illness, it’s hard to express the relief and yes — joy — that I feel knowing that researchers hands will finally be untied by Obama today to freely explore the enormous possibilities of stem cell research! Fortunately for me, another journalist living with Type 1 named Mike Littwin at the Denver Post has just done an excellent job explaining “our viewpoint” and the ramifications in a column titled “Years Late,...

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama says human cloning is "dangerous, profoundly wrong" and has no place in society. Obama made the comments as he was signing an executive order that will allow federal spending on embryonic stem cell research.

Parody. Parody. Parody. Parody. Obama today loudly proclaimed today that Stem Cell research will be re-funded (ending a Bush White House policy that prohibited federal (but not private!) funding for research using stem cells (and the bodies of aborted babies.) Much promoted by the MSM radio-media during their 1/2 hour slots on every channel, Obama's sound bites proudly declared that "We will not base decisions based on (conservative) politics, but on scientific fact (despite the fact that embryonic stem cell research has badly failed every time it has been tried with private funds)." The AGW community now sits - waiting...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama signed an executive order Monday repealing a Bush-era policy that limited federal tax dollars for embryonic stem cell research. Obama's move overturns an order signed by President Bush in 2001 that barred the National Institutes of Health from funding research on embryonic stem cells beyond using 60 cell lines that existed at that time. Obama also signed a presidential memorandum establishing greater independence for federal science policies and programs.

Obama to Sign Executive Order Monday Opening Public Funding of Embryonic Stem Cell Research http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09030611.html By John-Henry Westen WASHINGTON, March 6, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - President Barack Obama plans to rescind the Bush policy limiting federal funding for embryo destructive research on Monday. The Bush policy had allowed federal funding for experiments on already existing lines of embryos, but forbade the funds from being used to create new embryos for experimentation. According to news reports, a signing ceremony will take place on Monday at 11 am. Details about the Executive Order are not available, but according to the Washington Post, "proponents...

Nancy Reagan praises Obama Craig Gordon Craig Gordon 17 mins ago 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’s 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 signed an executive order lifting the Bush-era restrictions. “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...

Saying that it is time that “even the smallest Americans make a positive contribution,” the Obama Administration issued an Executive Order reversing the Bush Administration’s policy of prohibiting the use tax dollars to fund the harvesting of stem cells from aborted fetuses. “In the new America we are building, all will be asked to make sacrifices for the common good,” the Executive Order read. “What would otherwise be mere waste biological refuse from uncompleted pregnancies can be used for the advancement of scientific research and the treatment of the seriously ill.” “Surely, it is more noble for these tissues to...

Here is video of President Barack Obama today announcing the signing of an Executive Order that lifts the ban on Federal Funding for Embryonic Stem Cell Research, which President George W. Bush had put in place during his Presidency. This move is no surprise, because Obama has never presented himself as a champion for Life. Americans averted their eyes from the truth about Obama when they voted for him, instead salving their consciences with the belief they needed to fix the economy with someone new and fresh. As we are finding, in Obama we now have a President who is...

(ANSA) - Vatican City, March 9 - Vatican daily Osservatore Romano on Monday slammed United States President Barack Obama's decision to lift strict limits on human embryonic stem cell research. In an editorial, the daily stressed that ''recognition of personal dignity must be extended to all phases of existence'' and claimed that ''real democracy is founded on this maturity of thought''.

New York, NY (AHN) - President Barack Obama's expected lifting of the ban on stem cell research Monday is good news for those with Type 1 juvenile diabetes and their parents. That's because researchers think that embryonic stem cells could be capable of replicating the pancreatic cells that produce insulin. When pancreatic cells are transplanted they effectively cure Type 1 diabetics. But with donor organs in short supply there are not enough donor pancreases to meet demand. About 1.5 million Americans have Type 1 diabetes, but there are only about 6,000 donor pancreases each year. Although there is a debate...

February 19, 2009 - President Obama has swiftly reversed the policies of the Bush administration to protect early human life, and there is no reason to think he will stop there. First, he has reversed the "Mexico City Protocol", which means your tax dollars will not only fund abortions overseas but will allow powerful NGO's to bully Catholic and Islamic governments to legalize abortion and abortifactant contraception. Second, he has stopped the HHS regulations that require clinics and other health care facilities to document that they are protecting the job rights of those working there who refuse to cooperate...

WASHINGTON (AP) - A family desperate to save a child from a lethal brain disease sought highly experimental injections of fetal stem cells—injections that triggered tumors in the boy's brain and spinal cord, Israeli scientists reported Tuesday. Scientists are furiously trying to harness different types of stem cells—the building blocks for other cells in the body—to regrow damaged tissues and thus treat devastating diseases. But for all the promise, researchers have long warned that they must learn to control newly injected stem cells so they don't grow where they shouldn't, and small studies in people are only just beginning. Tuesday's...

A bill to remove South Dakota’s restrictions against embryonic stem cell research was introduced yesterday in the state senate. SB 195 would strike from SDCL 34-14 the language prohibiting human embryos from being used for research.  The bill was sponsored by Senators Nesselhuf, Adelstein, Nelson, and Turbak Berry and Representatives Engels, Blake, Cutler, Dreyer, Hoffman, Hunhoff (Bernie), McLaughlin, and Street. We knew this was coming for some time now. Last summer the Argus Leader ran an article about Sanford Health in Sioux Falls under the heading “Sanford eyes stem cell study.”In that article we read A new donation from philanthropist T. Denny...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- In just a matter of weeks, Barack Obama may force Americans to spend millions for unproven embryonic stem cell research. Yet, scientists admit they are having significant problems overcoming one of the major hurdles that may prevent the cells from every helping human patients. While adult stem cells have helped patients with a wide range of dozens of diseases and conditions, embryonic stem cells have yet to help one patient and have had problems in animals. One major problem is that they tend to form cancerous cells or tumors after they are injected -- and scientists...

The Neolib Attack on Adult Stem Cells By Michael Fumento  November 11, 2004 The only beneficiaries of ESC therapy to date have been these guys, and precious few at that.   Among the magazines even die-hard right-wingers should sometimes read are the neo-liberal ones The New Republic and the Washington Monthly. They often contain thoughtful articles with stimulating fresh thinking. Alas that makes it all the worse when they publish something moldier than a slab of Roquefort cheese. So it is with their current combined attack on adult stem cell research, designed to support the alternative of embryonic stem cells....

UNITED KINGDOM, August 23, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Modern stem-cell advancements in umbilical cord blood have rendered human embryonic stem-cell research unnecessary according to a prestigious UK researcher, who calls cord blood the “realistic future of stem-cell technology.” In this second part of an exclusive interview with LifeSiteNews.com, Dr. Peter Hollands, the Chief Science Officer of the UK Blood Bank and early pioneer of embryonic stem-cell research, explains that embryonic stem-cell researchers will keep their public mandate unless a vast media campaign educates the public about the superior benefits and proven cures of cord blood. In a previous interview, Dr. Hollands...

The Vatican has fired a warning shot over the bows of Barack Obama in response to the President-elect's intention to lift the US ban on embryonic stem cell research. Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan of Mexico, who acts as the Vatican health minister, said that stem cells taken from human embryos and involving the destruction of the embryos "serve no purpose". Asked whether the Vatican was concerned about reports that Mr Obama might reverse the Bush Administration's ban, the cardinal said that embryonic stem cell research had not resulted in any significant health cure so far and was "good for nothing"....

Local and national Catholics reacted Tuesday to statements by Diocese of Scranton Bishop Joseph F. Martino apparently discounting teachings of the national body of bishops during a political forum at a Honesdale Roman Catholic Church this weekend. Martino arrived unannounced in the midst of a panel discussion on faith issues and the presidential campaign at St. John’s Catholic Church on Sunday. According to people who attended the event, the bishop chastised the group for holding the forum and particularly took issue with the discussion and distribution of excerpts from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ position on voting issues. The...

In the ongoing debate about stem cell research, few people differentiate between adult stem cells and embryonic stem cells. Also, few know that there are over 70 successful treatments from adult stem cells and none from embryonic.1What has many up in arms is that the production of embryonic stem cells endangers the life of a very small, but distinctly human, person. Once a human egg has been fertilized, a new cell results, called a zygote. This single cell contains all the instructions required to mature and develop a full-term baby and is therefore rightly considered an immature person. The...

Some of Australia's leading bio-scientists are taking a closer look at a new, ethically acceptable stem cell research route that avoids the use of human embryos in the search for possible cures for degenerative diseases.  While not yet convinced that the "exciting" new method is as promising as using embryonic stem cells, they are studying the relative merits of the two approaches.  A major research breakthrough announced in Japan and the U.S. last November revealed that human "adult" skin cells can be reprogrammed into a new kind of cell -- an induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell -- that shares an...

New York is set to spend $600 million in taxpayer dollars on stem cell research. A recently released draft plan drooling over the potential of embryonic cells to cure a variety of diseases has drawn this blast from Rev. Ruben Diaz, the state senate's sole pro-life Democrat: June 13, 2008Judy Doesschate, J.D.Director of Board OperationsWadsworth CenterNew York State Department of HealthEmpire State Plaza, Box 509Albany, NY 12208-0509Dear Ms. Doesschate:This letter is to express my response to the Empire State Stem Cell Board’s strategic framework that will guide New York State’s $600 Million, 11-year investment in stem cell research. The...

Once an Embryo… June 23rd, 2008 by Fr. Frank Pavone The US bishops have issued a very clear statement on embryonic stem cell research. It does not dwell upon the scientific nuances of the issue, but rather assists the reader to focus on the moral issues involved. The statement is not marked by condemnation, but rather by explanation. It is not a rejection of research or of those who stand to benefit from research, but rather a call to pursue the well being of those very individuals by preserving the moral standards that protect their dignity and that of the...

The US bishops have issued a very clear statement on embryonic stem cell research. It does not dwell upon the scientific nuances of the issue, but rather assists the reader to focus on the moral issues involved. The statement is not marked by condemnation, but rather by explanation. It is not a rejection of research or of those who stand to benefit from research, but rather a call to pursue the well being of those very individuals by preserving the moral standards that protect their dignity and that of the rest of us. The statement reminds us that there is...

How America came to accept using human embryos for research In the ten years since Dr. James Thomson at the University of Madison first procured human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), support for the prospect of using human embryos and fetuses for research purposes has gradually seeped into the American mindset to the point at which it is now broadly tolerated, if not openly endorsed, especially in the political arena, in academia, and certainly within the scientific community. [1] As we continue to advance as a nation into the age of developmental biology there is reason to fear that Americans are...

The promoters of embryonic stem cell enterprises continue to tout soon to come “breakthroughs” accompanied by supine media coverage and inaccurate statements by “the scientists” who twist and distort scientific definitions to win a political debate. Such spin in the name of science, actually corrupts science. Latest example: Another company is claiming that “next year” it will start human ESC trials. From a column by Orange County Register “biomedical innovation” columnist Colin Stewart, who has apparently drunk the Kool-Aid. First there is his cruelly hyped headline: “ALS patients could get help from stem cells next year:” From his column:...

Lord Patel of Dunkeld, chairman of the UK National Stem Cell Network and chancellor of Dundee University, told the Scotsman earlier this week that research involving stem cells would likely lead to therapies, but that ultimately such treatments could prove too risky for human use. He also said it could be five to ten years before viable stem cell treatments were available. But even then, he observed, "We have to be cautious. It may not deliver therapy for anything. We may find that stem therapy is quite a risky business." In terms of the efficacy of stem cell cures, Lord...

Hundreds of embryonic stem-cell lines that provide hope for treating devastating disorders such as sickle cell anemia and Down syndrome are available for research but are off-limits to federal scientists because of White House restrictions, scientists said Wednesday. The three presidential candidates - Republican John McCain and Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama - all support expanded federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research. Their actions would lift a restriction imposed by President Bush in 2001 that limits federally funded research to fewer than two dozen embryonic stem cell lines. --snip-- Wednesday's first-ever conference of the Global Forum of...

(BEIJING) — They're paralyzed from diving accidents and car crashes, disabled by Parkinson's, or blind. With few options available at home in America, they search the Internet for experimental treatments — and often land on Web sites promoting stem cell treatments in China. They mortgage their houses and their hometowns hold fundraisers as they scrape together the tens of thousands of dollars needed for travel and the hope for a miracle cure. A number of these medical tourists claim some success when they return home: Jim Savage, a Houston man with paralysis from a spinal cord injury, says he can...

Kyoto, Japan (LifeNews.com) -- Dr. Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University made international headlines recently when he devised a new process that allows for the creation of embryonic stem cells without the destruction of human life. Now, Yamanaka says he was prompted to search for ethical alternatives by his own conscience. Invited by a friend to take a look at a human embryo -- a unique human being -- under a microscope, Dr. Yamanaka had a moral spark that changed his career.   “When I saw the embryo, I suddenly realized there was such a small difference between it and my...

Corrected. Blood from mice treated with iPS cells (above) does not show the sickle-shaped cells present in untreated mice (top).Credit: J. Hanna et al., Science Skin cells reprogrammed to act like embryonic stem cells--a breakthrough first reported in human cells 2 weeks ago--are already showing promise as a therapeutic agent. In today's online edition of Science, researchers describe using induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells to alleviate symptoms of sickle cell anemia in mice. The technique is not yet safe to try in people, but scientists say it is proof of principle that iPS cells could someday treat human disease. Induced...

November 21, 2007, 1:40 a.m. Brave New FutureWorking together with stem cells. An NRO Symposium On Tuesday, two scientific journals announced news of a breakthrough that could put an end to our dead-end political debates about stem-cell research. In response to the news, National Review Online asked a group of experts: How big is Tuesday’s new somatic-cell reprogramming news? Where does the stem-cell/cloning debate go from here? How should politics respond? Here’s what they had to say. William HurlbutThe news represents very hopeful progress toward a complete resolution to the stem-cell impasse. I think the president deserves a lot...

I believe I represent the average Republican voter, or at least a significant slice of the R base. My positions - in no particular order - are as follows: Immigration - Amnesty is a deal breaker. If they are here illegally and we come into contact with them, send them home. Iraq - We were winning, we are winning, and we will win. The various pitfalls and difficulties that we have had do not equal defeat. We need a President to stand firm, and to fire all the traitors(I am not using this word lightly) in the State Department and...

TRENTON, Nov. 6 — In a stunning defeat for Gov. Jon S. Corzine, New Jersey voters on Tuesday rejected a ballot measure that would have permitted the state to borrow $450 million for stem cell research. The sound defeat, coupled with the failure of another initiative that would have set aside more money for property tax rebates, marked the first time in 17 years that voters in New Jersey had defeated any statewide ballot question. The ballot questions offered a rare surprise on a day in which Democrats maintained their control over both houses in the State Legislature. As of...

On November 6, the taxpayers of New Jersey will again be asked to pony up--this time $450 million to fund every abortionists' favorite white elephant, Embryonic Stem Cell research. As most FReepers already know, Embryonic Stem Cell research involves the willful creation and destruction of viable human embryos for therapeutic techniques that, to date, have resulted in NO cures. And of course, the NJ bill does not fund Adult or Cord Stem Cell research, a much more promising and less ethically troubling experimental treatment modality which to date has yielded 73 successful therapeutic uses. Here in NJ, we're working to...