WASHINGTON—A U.S. judge blocked the federal government from funding research involving human embryonic stem cells, a surprise blow to one of the most promising yet controversial areas of current scientific research.
The ruling, which could affect hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding, was cheered by some Christian groups as a defense of human life and denounced by scientists who called it a major setback for medical research.
It also could inject the divisive issue into election-year politics and spark discussion in Congress whether to try to nullify the decision by writing new legislation.
In issuing a preliminary injunction Monday against federal funding for the research, Judge Royce Lamberth of U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., said it violated a law first passed in 1996 prohibiting federal money for research in which an embryo is destroyed.
Editor's note: Yay! There is nothing worthwhile about embryonic stem cell research. Most of the California state money dedicated to embryonic stem cells is spent on adult stem cell treatments because there are results. Read the article below.
