Posted by
Andrews on Tuesday, March 24, 2009 8:53:27 PM
I just realized people continue to misstate the position of the Bush administration concerning stem cell research. I hate things written in capitals, but this needs the emphasis: THERE WAS NO BAN. Unless the Federal government is banning me from eating. You see, the government does not pay for me to eat, and there was no federal funding for embryonic stem cell research outside of a set of existing lines.
That is what makes this statement, that there was a "ban" so infuriating. Not only did the government not prevent research, they even funded research on existing lines. So, the only "ban" was on government funding for research o new embryonic stem cell lines. That hardly qualifies as a ban by any definition I can see. It may have been difficult for some researchers, but it hardly qualifies as a "ban".
Then again, as one who thinks the government should stop funding research and leave such funding to the private sector, perhaps I am not the best person to judge. Maybe others don't do anything without federal funding and so this somehow constitutes a "ban". But if so, I have to say we are in a sorry state when we consider a lack of government funding a "ban".