Wise Young
07-25-2001, 12:55 PM
President George W. Bush has been considering reversing a rule change at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that would allow government funding of human embryonic stem cells (ESC) research. Such research has been banned by Congress for many years until NIH proposed last year to allow funding for research using ESC derived from fertilized eggs stored in fertility clinics. Only those eggs that the parents want to be destroyed or donated to research will be used. The Clinton Administration had approved this rule change but President Bush suspended this rule change before it could be implemented. If President Bush decides to reverse the rule change, this means that NIH will not be able to fund such research. Congress is considering legislation to specifically allow governmental funding of such research. No law currently prevents private funding of human ESC research and several companies are already deriving human stem cells from embryos from paid donors. From this perspective, do you think that the federal government