Science finally wins: Obama to repeal stem cell ban

Now this is why we elected President Obama.

President Obama is planning to sign an executive order on Monday rolling back restrictions on federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research, according to sources close to the issue.

Although the exact wording of the order has not been revealed, the White House plans an 11 a.m. ceremony to sign the order repealing one of the most controversial steps taken by his predecessor, fulfilling one of Obama's eagerly anticipated campaign promises.

The move, long sought by scientists and patient advocates and opposed by religious groups, would enable the National Institutes of Health to consider requests from scientists to study hundreds of lines of cells that have been developed since the limitations were put in place -- lines that scientists and patient advocate say hold great hope for leading to cures for a host of major ailments.

[...]

President Bush imposed the restriction on Aug. 9, 2001, limiting federal funding to studies of what turned out to be 21 cell lines that were already in existence as of that date to prevent tax dollars from encouraging the destruction of more embryos.

The limitation, welcomed by those who believe that destroying human embryos is immoral, has been denounced by many scientists for severely hindering research one of the most promising fields of biomedical research.

The 21 cell lines that scientists have been permitted to study under the Bush policy have a variety of shortcomings, critics say. Many, for example, may have defects that could make them dangerous to transplant into people. But perhaps more important, hundreds of newer lines have been developed that offer a host of opportunities. Many lines, for example, carry defects for specific diseases.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Mr. President! For far too long, thanks to Drunky McStagger's 2001 executive order, the fundamentalist whackjobs have controlled Washington and prevented even the exploration of scientific advances that would help people, not just here in America but all over the world.

No one is going to be "harvesting" embryos for research, folks, so all you religious crazies can just get over it. I don't care if you oppose abortion -- just know that you can't impose your extremist views on the U.S. government any longer.

Men are expendable

Many of you probably are saying you already knew that. But I'm being serious here (for once).

British researchers believe they have found a way to create sperm cells from a woman's bone marrow.

The research would raise the possibility that lesbian couples could bear their own biological children.

The team, led by microbiologist Karim Nayernia, has already created sperm cells from a female human embryo, and from a man’s bone marrow cells.

Nayernia has said his work is aimed at helping patients harness the disease-curing potential of their own stem cells. Still, New Scientist suggests a reproductive revolution is coming soon.

More interesting, perhaps, than the story itself are the comments it's attracting, especially from the inevitable fundie crowd. Like these:

By Wil
January 31, 2008 6:34 PM | Link to this
What GOD gave us was free will. Then He taught us to make the right choices. This is not one of them!!! Zenaida [a previous commenter] is right on and unfortunately, unless these people stop trying to play God we will all suffer.

By Precious
January 31, 2008 10:57 PM | Link to this
So they can create babies from female human embryo, and from a man’s bone marrow cells but they cant find the cure for AIDS ?!?!? Who funds these types of unethical things. Are we now playing GOD ?!?! Instead of creating something that we already do naturally how about you hand the money over and your brains to help find a cure for cancer in babies. Save life thats already here. What about all the poor fetus you may kill in the process..i know every experiment wont be successful. What is this word coming to..Mad scientist today….. A waste of brains !

Hoo, boy. They walk among us.

Yet, probably the most intrinsically honest comment was this one:

By samt
January 31, 2008 5:35 PM | Link to this
Hurray! We are that much closer to erradicating the male gender from the planet! Heaven truly is almost upon us all!

Heh, indeed.

No, wait ... that's not funny!

Today's Daily Schadenfreude: Bill Frist

Dethroned Kitten Killer Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) is clapping as loud as he can.

In his parting shot to the American people today, the renowned Distance Diagnosis Doctor stamps his feet, jumps up and down, and insists that the 109th Congress was successful, really it was!

The Congressional session that just concluded actually leaves a solid record of achievement for America. The House and Senate both worked to protect our country, crack down on crime, promote a strong economy, improve education and approve sensible judges in a fair manner.

**********

Nonetheless, some widely supported measures fell victim to obstructionist tactics. Democrats, for example, blocked popular proposals to make it easier for small businesses to buy health coverage for their employees, reform our broken medical liability system, do more adult stem cell research, and increase the minimum wage.

It's clear, likewise, that "values" issues such as marriage protection and flag burning have broad appeal with the public as a whole. Voters in 27 states have approved marriage protection amendments, and all 50 state legislatures have called for a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning. When such a popular groundswell exists, then Congress should act.

It's almost too easy, but a quick debunk ought to take care of this.

Stem cell legislation: Sen. Frist is referring here to two bills that Senate Democrats opposed because they were nothing but political cover, as Bill's replacement, Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) patiently explained:

Mr. President, before we vote on the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, the Senate will first consider two other measures: The Alternative Pluripotent Stem Cell Therapies Enhancement Act (S. 2754) and the Fetus Farming Prohibition Act (S. 3504).

Neither one of these measures is a substitute for H.R. 810. The only reason they are here is to provide political cover for the opponents of stem cell research.

They know their opposition to stem cell research is outside the American mainstream, so they want to give themselves political cover by voting for two meaningless bills. It’s a playbook straight from the Republicans Orwellian world.

Neither one of these bills would do any harm, but neither would have any real impact.

There is nothing included in S. 2754 which cannot already be accomplished without this legislation. Even officials at the National Institutes of Health will tell you this.

The second bill, the Fetus Farming Prohibition Act (S. 3504) would ban activity that no scientist is currently doing or wants to do.

I've said it before: it's like shooting fish in a barrel. This is pretty easy, too:

Minimum wage increase: Although they ultimately prevailed in raising the federal minimum wage, many Democrats in Congress opposed bills that included GOP-sponsored attachments, really repugnant stuff that stretched the definition of "germane" almost to the breaking point:

After years of opposition, Republican leaders in the House of Representatives have now decided to support a long-overdue increase in the minimum wage. Unfortunately, the change of position was not inspired by a desire to help the poorest working families or because members of Congress have been criticized for taking thousands of dollars in pay raises since the last increase of the minimum wage.

With a vast majority of Americans supporting a minimum wage hike, Republicans now realize that opposing an increase will hurt their chances in the upcoming midterm elections.

If the change of heart on the minimum wage issue had ended there, we could say the GOP had reacted to the will of the voters. But they did not stop there. Instead of drafting a bill to increase the minimum wage and putting it to a "yes or no" vote, Republicans in the House decided to tack on a cut in inheritance taxes on multimillion-dollar estates owned by some of the richest families in the country. A repeal of this estate tax has passed the Republican-controlled House before, but has been rejected by the more evenly divided Senate twice in the past month.

The tactic was clearly aimed at using the popularity of a minimum wage hike to achieve the party's longtime ambition of permanently cutting estate taxes for the wealthiest Americans. Even if the measure fails, Republicans will now be able to claim they supported a minimum wage increase during their campaigns for re-election.

The Senate rejected the legislation, of course, which gave Frist the cover for his specious claims.

Let's not stop there. Frist brings out the tired old saw about how the American people are concerned about "marriage protection and flag burning." I don't even have to debunk this - it's already been done for me, and based on Frist's own statements.

The truth is that only three countries ban flag desecration (China, Cuba, and Iran), and they're not exactly bastions of freedom. The limited about of polling on the issue shows that it's simply not a matter of significant concern for Americans. As for gay marriage (I eschew Frist's ridiculous euphemism), it ranks behind terrorism, the war in Iraq, and the economy among others in terms of what Americans believe are important issues.

So, Frist can take his fantasies and go back to Tennessee, secure in the knowledge that even though the GOP-led Congress did, well, nothing, he's proven that they really did do something. They gave the 110th Congress to the Democrats.

Thanks, Bill, and congratulations! Today's Blast Off! Daily Schadenfreude is for you!