Ohio Roundtable: The Public Square - Human Brain Stem Cell Research
Human
Brain Stem Cell Research
Have you ever heard of the NIH? It sounds
like something out of a CS Lewis science fiction novel. The NIH is a government
agency headquartered in Washington DC. The people who work there are not elected,
yet they make policy decisions that impact your health and the health of all Americans.
Recently, the NIH issued guidelines for
research on human brain stem cells taken from unborn children. The embryos, created
in fertility clinics are destroyed for this research. The guidelines clear the way
to federal funding of such research.
Here's the problem. Congress
specifically banned federal funding for human embryo research. But the NIH has found
a way around that ban. They say researchers may not directly destroy the embryos
with tax dollars. That has to be done by a private firm. Government funds,
however can be spent to research those cells.
This means that federal tax dollars can now
flow to research that requires the extermination of an unborn life. Not because
Congress sys so or because of Court has ruled but because the NIH has issued a guideline
based upon the views of government employees elected by no one. Buy the way, the NIH
stands for the National Institutes of Health. Ironic isn't it?
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