NIH Issues Final ESCR Guidelines
On March 9, President Obama issued an Executive Order overturning the limits President Bush had placed on government funding of destructive embryonic stem cell research. On April 23, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) published draft guidelines to implement the Obama directive. And on July 7, they published the final guidelines. Federal taxpayer funds will now support research on human embryonic stem cells that are derived by killing human embryos acquired from fertility clinics. Parents can relinquish their embryonic children for such research when they no longer want them for reproduction.
Cardinal Justin Rigali, chairman of the Catholic bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, called the final guidelines “even broader” than the proposed draft. For example, parents of the embryonic children need not be informed of all other options but “only about the options that happen to be available at their particular fertility clinic.” The Cardinal concluded: “This debate now shifts to Congress. . . .I hope Americans concerned about this issue will write to their elected representatives, urging them not to codify or further expand this unethical policy.”
Reps. Diana DeGette (D-CO) and Michael Castle (R-DE) have already announced that they intend to move forward with broader legislation to “promote all forms of ethical stem cell research,” which in their view includes cloning and the creation of embryos solely to destroy them. News reports in October, 2009 indicated that introduction of a bill was imminent.
Through the NCHLA Grassroots Action Center, you can send messages to your Representative and two Senators opposing the DeGette/Castle legislation. See: www.nchla.org/actiondisplay.asp?ID=272. | 
