U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth temporarily dealt the Obama administration’s embryonic stem-cell funding policy a decisive setback today.

The Department of Justice said today that it will appeal the ruling.

In his 15-page opinion, Lamberth wrote that the federal government guidelines have a strong chance of violating the Dickey-Wicker amendment –a 1996 law that prohibits federal funding from going toward the destruction of human embryos.

In the opinion he added:

“Indeed, the Dickey-Wicker Amendment does not contain any language to support such a limited definition of research. Rather, the language of the statute reflects the unambiguous intent of Congress to enact a broad prohibition of funding research in which a human embryo is destroyed. This prohibition encompasses all ‘research in which’ an embryo is destroyed, not just the ‘piece of research’ in which the embryo is destroyed. Had Congress intended to limit the Dickey- Wicker to only those discrete acts that result in the destruction of an embryo, like the derivation of ESCs, or to research on the embryo itself, Congress could have written the statute that way. Congress, however, has not written the statute that way, and this Court is bound to apply the law as it is written. Accordingly, this Court must ‘give effect to the unambiguously expressed intent of Congress’ to prohibit federal funding of research in which a human embryo is destroyed.”

The Christian Medical Association (CMA) was part of the lawsuit filed after President Obama signed his executive order in 2009, which opened the floodgates for additional federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research.

Dr. David Stevens, chief executive officer of CMA, said the judge felt his position was so strong that he issued an immediate injunction to halt the funding. Stevens said the court ruled that the government couldn’t redefine “research,” in order to break the law.

“The Dickey-Wicker amendment states very clearly that federal funds cannot be used for destroying or even putting at risk human embryos,” he said. “The government tried to get around that by saying they weren’t actually funding the destruction of human embryos, but funding the research that occurred after that destruction was done by other scientists.

“Embryonic stem-cell research is just impractical,” he added. “It’s been nine years since this has started, and still there’s not one clinical trial in human beings that is under way. It’s just been one problem after another.”

Jennifer Lahl, founder and national director of the Center for Bioethics and Culture Network, said the administration dismissed the voices of pro-life Americans.

“The administration thought nobody would be watching and nobody would notice this was happening,” she said. “How refreshing to be at a time in history where a judge actually looks at the law and rules based on what the law says.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Read Judge Lamberth’s decision.

Learn more about Center for Bioethics and Culture Network.

Learn more about Christian Medical Association.

Learn more information on stem cell research.

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