Colorado Springs, Colo. – Carrie Gordon Earll, senior bioethics analyst for Focus on the Family Action, issued the following statement today in response to President Obama's overturning of the Bush policy that removed the incentive to destroy human embryos for federally funded research.
"The latest government bailout was announced today as President Obama will now attempt to bailout the morally bankrupt and failing industry of destructive embryonic stem cell research.
"Everyone wants cures and treatments for patients. But, patients deserve the very best investment of our tax dollars and embryonic stem cell research doesn't make the grade. To date - and after years and millions of dollars in research - no patient has been successfully treated with human embryonic stem cells.
"If embryonic stem cell research (ESCR) is so promising, why aren't private investors putting their money in that arena? Overall, private sector capital investors steer clear of funding ESCR because it's financially risky. So, researchers beg the federal and state governments for more and more money to fund experiments that - to date - have failed to provide a cure for a single patient. President Obama is demanding that tax payers pour their hard earned dollars into risky investments and go where most venture capitalists and drug companies fear to tread.
"The Bush policy not only protected human life, but also opened new horizons for stem cell research. Thanks to that policy, scientists put their energies toward new ideas, resulting in exciting innovations like the induced pluripotent stem cell (iPS) discovered in late 2007 using reprogrammed adult skin cells. We're discovering new alternatives of stem cells we didn't know existed."
Media Inquiries:
Contact: Devon Williams
(719) 268-4814; devon.williams@fotf.org
