Blog
Blog Posts
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
A federal lawsuit has been filed claiming the new guidelines for embryonic stem cell research created by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) violate a federal law prohibiting the funding of research in which human embryos are destroyed.
US Bishops Criticize New Stem Cell Guidelines
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
Cardinal Justin Rigali, Chairman of the U.S. Catholic bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Pro-Life Activities, criticized the final guidelines for human embryonic stem cell research issued yesterday by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
NIH Rejects 30,000 Comments on Stem Cell Guidelines
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
The National Institutes for Health (NIH) published their official guidelines today regarding human embryonic stem cell research after admitting that they disregarded 30,000 of the approximately 49,000 comments received during the public comment period because they were deemed to be “not responsive to the question put forth."
White House Abruptly Sacks Bioethics Council
Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
Members of the President’s U.S. Council on Bioethics were given one day’s notice that their services were no longer needed. The firing comes only months after the group issued a public letter to the President expressing their dismay over his decision to provide taxpayer funds for embryonic stem cell research.
NIH Reviewing Comments on Stem Cell Guidelines
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
The acting deputy director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has confirmed that it is now culling through thousands of public comments submitted to the agency regarding new guidelines on embryonic stem cell research. According to the agency, they received 20,000 comments in the last four days of the comment period alone.
Public Comment Sought on New Stem Cell Guidelines
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
Citizens wishing to express their opinion about the new guidelines for embryonic stem cell research published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are being asked to make those comments on or before May 26, 2009.
U.S. Bishops React to New Stem Cell Guidelines
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
Cardinal Justin Rigali of the U.S. Catholic bishop’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities, reacting to the new guidelines for embryonic stem cell research, said the research is just "another way for some human beings to mistreat others for their own gain."
New Guidelines Expand Scope of Embryonic Research
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
Implementing Obama’s decision to overturn the ban on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) released new proposed guidelines that will now allow funding of experimentation on embryos from IVF clinics that are “no longer needed for that purpose.”
Renewed Amendment Spares Human Embryos
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
President Barack Obama may have lifted the ban on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, but the U.S. appropriations bill he signed two days later contained an amendment that prohibits “research in which a human embryo or embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death greater than that allowed for research on fetuses.”
Obama Gives Taxpayer Money to Embryonic Stem Cell Research
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
President Barack Obama is expected to announce today that he will rescind the prohibition on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research put in place by President George W. Bush in 2001, thereby forcing taxpayers to fund the destruction of human embryonic life.