CHANGE: Obama Lifts Federal Stem Cell Research Ban


EDITOR’S NOTE: We urge anybody that has some moral or ethical problem with stem cell research to tell it to this man.

[Video: McCaskill for Missouri TV ad featuring actor Michael J. Fox talking about Claire McCaskill and stem cell research.]

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: As promised during the campaign, President Obama has lifted federal restrictions on embryonic stem cell research put in place in 2001 by President Bush. In announcing the policy change Monday morning, achieved by executive order, the president also signed a memorandum aimed at shielding the federal government’s involvement in science from political influence. The dual moves represented a sharp departure from the Bush years, when government employees – including the former Surgeon General – charged that politics was interfering with science in a range of areas, from stem cell research to climate change and reproductive health policy.

In his remarks, Mr. Obama himself referred to his predecessor’s policy as a “ban,” a characterization he repeated often during the presidential campaign. But his larger point – that the federal government will now “vigorously support” research – came though clearly. “Today, with the executive order I am about to sign, we will bring the change that so many scientists and researchers, doctors and innovators, patients and loved ones have hoped for, and fought for, these past eight years: we will lift the ban on federal funding for promising embryonic stem cell research,” Obama said. “We will vigorously support scientists who pursue this research. And we will aim for America to lead the world in the discoveries it one day may yield.” MORE

HUFFPO:  From tiny embryonic cells to the large-scale physics of global warming, President Barack Obama urged researchers on Monday to follow science and not ideology as he abolished contentious Bush-era restraints on stem-cell research. “Our government has forced what I believe is a false choice between sound science and moral values,” Obama declared as he signed documents changing U.S. science policy and removing what some researchers have said were shackles on their work. “It is about ensuring that scientific data is never distorted or concealed to serve a political agenda _ and that we make scientific decisions based on facts, not ideology,” Obama said. Researchers said the new president’s message was clear: Science, which once propelled men to the moon, again matters in American life. MORE

RELATED: President Barack Obama on Monday ordered a review of George W. Bush’s guidelines for implementing legislation passed by Congress, at the same time saying that he would employ his own version of how he wants the government to follow the law. In a memo to senior government officials, Obama said they must check with Attorney General Eric Holder before relying on any of Bush’s so-called “signing statements” for guidance. Bush often issued a statement when signing a bill into law, and critics said the statements at times showed government officials how to circumvent the law if Bush disagreed with it on constitutional grounds. “There is no doubt that the practice of issuing such statements can be abused,” Obama wrote. “Constitutional signing statements should not be used to suggest that the president will disregard statutory requirements on the basis of policy disagreements.” MORE

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