San Francisco Chronicle
Talk about judicial activism. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth just ruled that the federal government can't fund any stem cell research because it destroys embryos. He voided not just President Obama's stem cell policy, but former President George W. Bush's policy, too.
Lamberth relied on a reading of the Dickey-Wicker Amendment, which forbids federal funding of "research in which a human embryo or embryos are destroyed." The anti-abortion community is ecstatic, but the ruling goes far further than even Bush's policies on stem cells. Bush approved federal funding of research on stem cell lines that existed by August 2001. It's unlikely that even this policy would be allowed under Lamberth's reasoning.
The Obama administration is already planning an appeal, as it should. Congress could, and should, easily clarify things by simply passing a stem cell funding bill. That would eliminate the need to go through the courts, and the bill would be unlikely to encounter a presidential veto this time around.
In the meantime, the scientific community is frustrated and confused. The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine will be able to press on with its embryonic stem cell research, thanks to the wisdom of California's voters. But it means the institute's scientists won't be able to collaborate with those whose funding was dependent on federal grants.
Congress should move quickly to ensure that this potentially valuable research can continue.
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