According to the Hill, Republicans have introduced legislation that would require “prioritization” of stem cell research by the Secretary of Health and Human Resources.
Digging into the details, “prioritize” in this case means kicking hESC research to the back of the line so by “prioritize” what they really mean is politicize.
The bill, sponsored by Republican Randy Forces of Virginia and co-sponsored by Democrat Dan Lipinski of Illinois and 18 house Republicans, might force NIH to reduce funding for hESC research.
What does this mean?
The reality is that this is not an effort to help Americans facing disease or to advance research, but is a political attempt to go after hESC research.
You can read the actual bill here.
I wonder if they will close all ivf clinics, too?
Meanwhile South Korea is taking the other side of this debate. USA policy makers first destroyed our country’s manufacturing base..and next they’ll eviscerate our technological and research edges.
S. Korea considers funding stem cell research next year: Lee
SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Yonhap) — South Korea is reviewing a plan to finance embryonic stem cell research from next year, President Lee Myung-bak said Friday, as the research is emerging as one of the next-generation drivers of growth in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.
“I think that the government’s research and development budget would be allocated for this sector next year,” Lee told a group of senior government officials and executives at private firms researching stem cells.
Lee said that the government will “swiftly handle” the funding issue and called for stem cell researchers to work in an “adventurous” way.
http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2011/09/16/24/0301000000AEN20110916004800315F.HTML
What I can’t figure out is how this whole topic of killing blastocytes in a dish gels with the concept of death panels…which will get revisited in the future when debates occur over how limited dollars get spent going forward in a revamped health care system. People have short memories. Makes you really wonder what’s on the agenda.
Death Panel Advocate
http://tinyurl.com/2eh8xot
There’s just one element missing from these snapshots of America’s
ostensibly spontaneous and leaderless populist uprising: the sugar
daddies who are bankrolling it, and have been doing so since well
before the “death panel” warm-up acts of last summer. Three heavy
hitters rule. You’ve heard of one of them, Rupert Murdoch. The other
two, the brothers David and Charles Koch, are even richer, with a
combined wealth exceeded only by that of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett
among Americans. But even those carrying the Kochs’ banner may not
know who these brothers are.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/opinion/29rich.html