Financing for Stem-Cell Research Can Continue for Now, Court Rules

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

An appeals court has ruled that government financing of embryonic stem-cell research can continue for now. The United States Court of Appeals in Washington on Tuesday granted the Obama administration’s request to allow the financing from the National Institutes of Health while it appeals a judge’s order blocking it. The administration had argued that stopping the research while the case proceeded would irreparably harm scientific progress toward potentially life-saving medical treatment. United States District Judge Royce Lamberth had blocked President Obama’s research funding guidelines because he said it is likely that they violate the law against federal funding of embryo destruction.