This will be a short article since I have already written an article recently on why the federal government isn’t required to pay for research involving embryonic stem cells.

I just read an article on Yahoo News on President Obama’s decision to reverse President Bush’s partial ban on taxpayer-backed research on embryonic stem cells, and some of the comments and tones in the article just made my head shake in disbelief. Here are a few examples:

“I feel vindicated after eight years of struggle, and I know it’s going to energize my research team,” said Dr. George Daley of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and Children’s Hospital of Boston, a leading stem cell researcher.

“America’s biomedical research enterprise experienced steady decline over the past eight years, with shrinking budgets and policies that elevated ideology over science. This slowed the pace of discovery and the search for cures,” said Sean Morrison, director of the University of Michigan’s Center for Stem Cell Biology.

During the campaign, Obama said, “I strongly support expanding research on stem cells. I believe that the restrictions that President Bush has placed on funding of human embryonic stem cell research have handcuffed our scientists and hindered our ability to compete with other nations.”

I’m sorry, but this is just ridiculous. Research on embryonic stem cells was never banned nor restricted, so to claim that research declined, or hindered scientists, or took away their desire to explore the possibilities of new cures being found by using embryonic stem cells are shallow and misleading. And it is this type of misleading messages that flood our airways and media, skewing the views and opinions on the issues. While it is true that most of the general public willfully tunes out from the conversation on the details of government spending, those that do pay attention are left with gaps in the topic.

I am glad that the article did mention how research has not only continued, but also advanced through private funding. However, you have to read down passed a lot of the garbage listed above to find that little nugget. It is time for these “scientists” to be honest with themselves and with the general public. You’ve always been able to do the research, and there is no requirement that the federal government has to fund it.

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