Obama Rolls Back Ban On Stem Cell Research
He took the politics out of science, and then he put the politics right back in.
On Wednesday, only two days after he lifted President Bush’s executive order banning federal funding of stem cell research that requires the destruction of human embryos, President Barack Obama signed a law that explicilty bans federal funding of any “research in which a human embryo or embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death.”
It’s worth noting, once again, that a ban on federal funding for certain types of stem cell research (which is exactly what Bush had in place) is not a ban on the research altogether. It can still be done, just not without federal funds.
Saying otherwise is a bit like saying that we’ve banned abortions because we’re not subsidizing them with tax dollars.
And as for injecting politics into science, think that the public has an interest in just how far science is allowed to go. I think it’s a fine line between appropriate regulation and letting religious/moral dogma interfere with research, but think of the warnings spelled out in books like Brave New World. There are dangers to letting science roam free of public policy. It’s hard to draw a line between what is appropriate regulation of science and what is not, but it’s a debate we have to have.
I am a fierce proponent of limited government, but in this regard the public has an interest. When science begins toying with human life itself, the public needs a say. Just as the public needs a say when science begins toying with, say, nuclear research.
Obama’s a flaming hypocrite for making a big deal about ending Bush’s “ban” on stem cell research and then turning around and signing a ban of his own, but ultimately he did get it right.
(via Myron Floren)
