Stem-Cell Funding Ban Upheld While Government Appeals

The Obama administration can’t continue to fund embryonic stem-cell research while appealing a ban on government support for any activity using cells taken from human embryos, a federal judge ruled.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth in Washington today rejected the government’s motion to reconsider his ruling last month enforcing the ban pending an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington. The Justice Department argued that Lamberth’s injunction itself is causing irreparable harm to researchers, taxpayers and scientific progress.