Judge Royce Lamberth has issued a preliminary injunction against federal funding of embryonic stem cell research because it violates United States law under the Dickey Amendment.
The Dickey Amendment says "(a) None of the funds made available in this Act may be used for-
(1) the creation of a human embryo or embryos for research purposes; or
(2) research in which a human embryo or embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death greater than that allowed for research on fetuses in utero under 45 CFR 46.208(a)(2) and Section 498(b) of the Public Health Service Act [1](42 U.S.C. 289g(b)) (Title 42, Section 289g(b), United States Code).
As Judge Lamberth notes, "The Dickey-Wicker Amendment is unambiguous. It prohibits research in which a human embryo is destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subject to risk of injury or death greater than that allowed under applicable regulations." "ESC (embryonic stem cell) research is clearly research in which an embryo is destroyed." And therefore, "The Guidelines (instituted by the Obama Administration) violate that prohibition by allowing federal funding of ESC research because ESC research depends up on the destruction of a human embryo."
We agree, but the Obama Administration, like the Clinton administration, thought they found a way to legally fund embryonic stem cell research (ESCR) under the Dickey Amendment. Both administrations separated embryonic stem cell research into different "pieces of research," destroying the embryo and creating an embryonic stem cell line/culture, and performing research on the embryonic stem cell line that has been created by destroying the embryo. Both administrations argued that as long as the government didn't fund the destruction of the embryo, it could fund research on embryonic stem cell lines created by private funds.
The judge didn't buy that argument: "Despite defendants' attempt to separate the derivation of ESCs from research on the ESCs, the two cannot be separated. Derivation of ESCs from an embryo is an integral step in conducting ESC research. Indeed, it is just one of many steps in the "systematic investigation" of stem cell research. 45 C.F.R. § 46.102(d). Simply because ESC research involves multiple steps does not mean that each step is a separate "piece of research" that may be federally funded, provided the step does not result in the destruction of an embryo. If one step or "piece of research" of an ESC research project results in the destruction of an embryo, the entire project is precluded from receiving federal funding by the Dickey-Wicker Amendment. Because ESC research requires the derivation of ESCs, ESC research is research in which an embryo is destroyed. Accordingly, the Court concludes that, by allowing federal funding of ESC research, the Guidelines are in violation of the Dickey-Wicker Amendment."
The judge also noted that his injunction "would not seriously harm ESC researchers because the injunction would simply preserve the status quo and would not interfere with their ability to obtain private funding for their research. In addition, the harm to individuals who suffer from diseases that one day may be treatable as a result of ESC research is speculative. It is not certain whether ESC research will result in new and successful treatments for diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease."
Meanwhile, non embryonic stem cell breakthroughs keep coming.
Read Dr. Keith Shonnard MD and Don Nelson's Reno Gazette Journal op-ed Embryonic Stem Cell Research is Unethical, Dangerous and Unnecessary on why we oppose embryonic stem cell research and the Obama policy.
