Laced with words from the 14th century, Peter J. Boyle, writing for The New Yorker, paints a rather large picture of embryonic stem cell research, and the recent injunction that was made by Judge Joyce C. Lamberth, of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia.
Click title for full article.
The article starts by giving the reader a small history about Obama appointee, the director of National Institutes of Health, Francis Collins. The once self-declared atheist-turned-Christian, is in full support of Obama's resent policy to allow for embryonic stem cell research funding. Collins argues that embryonic stem cells are so valuable to science that, they will eventually lead us to developing personal medicines for people, unlike the "one size fits all" medicine we currently see.
With the council of Collins, Obama set out to put his policy in motion. His policy lifted the bans on funding but, kept the guidelines on how the stem cells would be obtained.
The Dickey-Wicker amendment is what currently stands in the way of embryonic stem cell research - the reason for the injunction from Judge Lamberth. This is an amendment that was passed by Congress and signed by Clinton, and has continued to pass each year. Bush allowed for research with lines of cells that already existed but, stopped any further funding.
The Dickey-Wicker amendment states that no money shall be given for the creation of human embryos for research and, no money is given for research that involves human embryos that are discarded, destroyed, or subjected to risk of injury or death knowingly.
The desire to use embryonic stem cells comes from their "variability." They are considered pluripotent cells, which basically means they can be used for a variety of areas in research, from diabetes to Parkinson's disease. [It's interesting that word variability (in the article), was used, since that usually defines something as unstable or constantly changing, which in a laboratory setting, isn't usually a desirable condition.]
Recently, advances have been made, where pluripotent cells can now be obtained from adult stem cells but, concern about the cells having a previous "memory" of sorts could effect the research.
The injunction funding has been stopped and, research projects have been put on hold indefinitely. It appears the only way Obama's policy can move forward is addressing the Dickey-Wicker amendment.
It is amusing that the beginning of the article talks a lot about Collins' past and, how he is a minority amongst his peers because, he believes in G-d and, the rest of them all tend to apparently lean toward atheism. There is a battle going on here and, it's atheists who seem to be pushing their beliefs on those who are religious.
The fact is, the private sector can mostly do as they please. The government policy here only addresses where to appropriate federal funds, not limit what scientists can do otherwise. So, if the private sector is not supporting this research, it's obviously a sign that they either do not believe the results will lead to any great advancements, or they are focused on other areas now and, until they see something promising, they will not waste an investment into something they may gain nothing from.
So, why is the government involved in this at all? Liberals/atheists have this hatred for the private sector for some reason. They claim that everything corporations do is evil because, the men that run them are all evil but, the very reason they don't want the private sector to have control should be the very reason they wouldn't want the government to be involved.
This all has to do with who you want to have control, evil or good; do you want the government to control everything, or do you want the people to have control over their own lives?
When it comes to embryonic stem cells, there is no question that the government should not be involved in any funding whatsoever. Either way, you have ideologues pushing their beliefs on others. You have either atheists taking money away from Christians (freedom of religion), and forcing their money to go to something they find to be deplorable. Or, you have religious people alienating those folks that are atheists and, don't believe in any higher power, also a freedom.
All of these review panels for scientific research, all turn into people funding their friend's research anyway. It's a big joke and anyone that follows the science community knows this. It's all about schmoozing the right people, shaking hands, getting funds, ect. It's a joke and the government shouldn't be involved in any of it.
For Obama to even put forth his policy is quite ignorant, arrogant, and telling of the fact that the man obviously was unaware of the Dickey-Wicker amendment. I guess we'll just have to add this to all the other examples of why he is a horrible leader and, unqualified for his position.
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