Friday, May 01, 2009

FRC: Comment on Stem Cell Research; Dealine May 26

As you may know, President Bush's policy was to allow funding for research that involved embryonic stem cells taken from human embryos so long as the cells were obtained on or prior to August 9, 2001. Since then, the government has funded research on over 22 stem cell lines. President Bush's policy erected a wall and did not encourage the further killing of human embryos for their cells.

However, on March 9, 2009 President Barack Obama issued an executive order that overturned President Bush's policy and opened the floodgates for funding more embryonic stem cell research (ESCR) that creates an incentive to create and destroy human embryos. President Obama designated the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to draft guidelines for distributing funds for this research. Last week, April 23, NIH officially posted draft guidelines to open federal funding for research on human embryonic stem cells. What these guidelines do is send your tax dollars to experiment on stem cells taken from human embryos that supposedly are "leftover" from in vitro fertilization. Instead of promoting the adoption of these human embryos, these draft guidelines would require their death.

The public comment period on these draft regulations is 30 days, and we ask that you submit comments to oppose these regulations on or before May 26, 2009. To submit your comment, please go to this website and fill out the form with your comment.
Please submit your comment directly to the National Institutes of Health by May 26, 2009 to oppose use of federal funds for research on human embryonic stem cells.

Sincerely,
Tony Perkins
President
Family Research Council