After a long, complex series of legal battles, US government funding for research on human embryonic stem cells can resume, at least for the time being.

After a long, complex series of legal battles, US government funding for research on human embryonic stem cells can resume, at least for the time being. A federal appeals court ruled on the issue last week, in an important victory for the Obama administration. The 2-to-1 ruling, by a panel of judges from the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, blocks a lower-court decision last August holding that such research is illegal under a law banning public spending on research in which human embryos are damaged or destroyed. 

Two judges on the appellate court said last week that because the law is written in the present tense, “it does not extend to past actions.” In her dissenting opinion, Judge Karen Henderson accused the majority of committing “linguistic jujitsu”: “The majority opinion has taken a straightforward case of statutory construction and produced a result that would make Rube Goldberg tip his hat.” 

Samuel B. Casey, a lawyer for two scientists who sued the government to stop funding human embryonic stem cell research, said that he was disappointed but also pleased that the appeals court kept his suit alive, and that he was considering an appeal. ~ New York Times, Apr 29

Court lets US continue funding embryonic stem cell study
Jared Yee
embryonic stem cells
US