Feds Appeal Ban on Stem Cell Funding

Lawyers for the U.S. Department of Justice filed an appeal on Wednesday of a federal court decision that halts federal funds for research using human embryonic stem cells.

The Department of Justice asked the federal appeals court for an emergency order to restore government funds for stem cell research while the higher court considers its arguments.

The federal government argues that holding back funding harms researchers and delays scientific progress.

U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth on Tuesday rejected a request from the federal government to reconsider earlier decision, issued in late August, blocking federal funds for stem cell research pending an appeal.

That earlier ruling temporarily halted the National Institutes of Health from conducting or funding stem cell studies, citing a 1996 law that had prohibited funding research in which an embryo was destroyed.

The Obama Administration had tried to expand research using stem cells. It hoped to allow for stem cells from embryos created for reproductive purposes, but that were no longer being used, could be used instead for research.