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CMA Doctors Hail Court Order Freezing Federal Embryonic Stem Cell Action Thursday May 10 10:33am Source: PR Newswire WASHINGTON, May 10 /PRNewswire/ -- The 14,000-member Christian Medical Association (CMA), a party in a lawsuit that prompted a recent U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia order staying government action on funding lethal human embryonic stem cell research, said the order "is the first step toward protecting human beings from unlawful federal funding of unethical and unnecessary research." CMA Executive Director David Stevens, M.D. noted, "We are encouraged by the court's order and confident that the administration's pending review of federal funding of embryonic stem cell research will conclude that such funding would break the law and violate long- standing ethical prohibitions against lethal human experimentation." The lawsuit challenging the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding guidelines was brought against NIH and Health and Human Services on March 8 by a coalition of plaintiffs, including the Christian Medical Association; an adoption agency that successfully arranges for infertile couples to adopt human embryos stored at in vitro fertilization clinics; several couples who desire to adopt human embryos; and Dr. David Prentice, a researcher specializing in research using stem cells derived from adults. The lawsuit asserts that NIH funding guidelines promulgated during the Clinton administration violate the congressional ban against federal funding of research in which human embryos "are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death." Stevens said, "As our lawsuit notes, adult stem cell research presents a promising and ethical alternative to destroying living human embryos for their stem cells. The evidence is mounting that stem cells found in bone marrow, umbilical cord blood, and even fat offer scientifically preferable alternatives to embryonic stem cells. While destructive embryonic stem cell research has received much unwarranted hype, ethical adult stem cell research has been upstaging embryonic stem cell research through successful clinical applications." Stevens added, "Because science has an impact on society, we cannot yield unbounded autonomy to researchers. That's why Congress has recognized the need to enforce ethical constraints to preserve the state's interest in protecting human life and societal ideals." http://finance.individual.com/display_news.asp?doc_id=PR20010510CHTH017&page=news ********* ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn