Embryonic stem cell suit dismissed

November 2, 12:34 PMAustin Science Policy ExaminerSteven Andrew

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Austin Science Policy Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Good news for science and medicine, via my old friend Ed Brayton at Dispatches From the Culture Wars:

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the Obama administration's new rules on federal funding for stem cell research, which reversed the Bush policy of prohibiting such funding in most cases. And I'm not usually a big fan of dismissing cases based on standing, but in this case there was just no legal basis for the challenge at all.

Ed goes on to explain the main the legal issue surrounding the case. The plaintiffs, primarily The Christian Medical Association, argued that changing Bush's restriction on funding embryonic stem cell research would cause them 'irreparable harm,' in part because they would have to spend money fighting that policy change or trying to compete with it for grant money. I'm no lawyer, but if that's an accurate summation I can see why the case was dismissed. You can read the full ruling here (.pdf).

.