Catherine Glenn Foster, President & CEO of Americans United for Life, has joined with Susan B. Anthony List and other national pro-life leadership in calling on the Trump administration asking for a policy change on the issue of taxpayer funding for research using fetal tissue from induced abortions. The letter to the President reads, in part: “During […]
William Saunders in the National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly
William Saunders, Senior Vice President of Legal Affairs and Senior Counsel, featured in the National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly in which he gives a “Washington Insider” report of bioethical issues from our nation’s capital.
Court: U.S. can fund embryo research, as long as researchers kill the embryos first
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued an opinion late last week in Sherley v. Sebelius allowing the Obama administration to continue funding destructive embryo research. At issue was President Obama’s March 9, 2009 executive order directing the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to issue new stem cell guidelines to […]
Embryo research yields no results—or money
USA Today is reporting today that Geron—the company that received the first government approval for human clinical trials using human embryo stem cells—is discontinuing “further stem cell work.” This decision hardly comes as a surprise. There simply is no money in research that yields no results. Geron says that the decision came “after a strategic […]
In addition to healthcare reform, U.S. Supreme Court will tackle the implications of assisted reproductive technologies
The current U.S. Supreme Court session is proving to be an exciting one. In addition to granting review of healthcare reform cases today, the Court also granted review in Capato v. Astrue—a case involving the rights of posthumously-conceived children. In this world of assisted reproductive technologies (ART), the facts of this case are all too […]
Court Strikes Down Obama Administration Embryonic Stem Cell Policy
Washington, D.C.—A U.S. District Court today halted the Obama Administration’s illegal and unethical policy of funding research that necessarily entails the destruction of human embryos. Judge Royce Lamberth issued a preliminary injunction against the Administration’s policy in the case Sherley v. Sebelius. “Since 1996, Congress has been clear that no federal funds are to be […]
Court Finds Obama Administration Stem Cell Policy Illegal
AUL’s news release on this decision can be found here. Today, a U.S. District Court halted the Obama Administration’s illegal and unethical policy of funding research that necessarily entails the destruction of human embryos. Judge Royce Lamberth issued a preliminary injunction against the Administration’s policy in the case Sherley v. Sebelius. On March 9 2009, […]
Western Australia Legislature Backing Adult Stem Cells
Science Alert Australia & New Zealand reports that Western Australia’s Upper House has rejected human embryonic stem cell research and human cloning. Dr. Millet, director of Curtin University of Technology’s Centre for Applied Ethics and Philosophy explains why. “The whole debate has changed, and it’s changed dramatically since the Yamanaka discovery because, while both his […]
Drastic Reduction of Abortions in Michigan Demonstrate the Importance of Incremental Protections
As life-affirming laws in Michigan increase, the abortion rates in Michigan continue to plummet. Michigan state health officials announced last week that the abortion rate in the state have dropped to a record low since record-keeping began in 1979. The current abortion rate shows a 50% drop since the peak in 1987, and a 3.7% […]
The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA): A Proposed Answer to Genetic Discrimination
On Wednesday, May 21, 2008, President Bush signed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA). GINA prohibits employers and health insurers from discriminating against persons on the basis of their genetic information. The measure passed by a vote of 414-1 in the House and 95-0 in the Senate before making its way to the President’s desk. […]
The Presidential Candidates on Life Issues
I’ve just discovered that our friends at bioethics.com have posted summaries of the candidates’ documented positions on stem cell research, cloning, human embryo research, abortion, and health care. Democrat Hillary Clinton Barack Obama Republican John McCain
Ethical Stem Cell Research Proved Successful and Safe
Dr. Jan Nolta and Dr. Gerard Bauer of University of California, Davis, have just released the results of their 10-year study on adult stem cell research. The breakthrough study shows that using human bone-marrow derived stem cells (i.e., adult stem cells and not embryonic stem cells) can be used safely and successfully to treat and […]
Human-Animal Hybrid Prohibition Act Introduced in Congress
Yesterday, Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey introduced in the U.S. House the Human-Animal Hybrid Prohibition Act, H.R. 5910. This bill would ban the creation of part-human, part-animal hybrid beings. Once unthinkable, human hybridization and species-tinkering is now underway despite its reckless disregard for human dignity and recognized ethical boundaries. See the articles below for […]
Nebraska Joins Handful of States that Prohibit State Funding of Human Cloning
On Tuesday, Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman signed into law LB 606, which prohibits the state funding of human cloning for any purpose. Significantly, this bill prohibits the funding of both cloning-to-produce-children, as well as cloning-for-biomedical-research. Unfortunately, many states ban and/or prohibit funding only for cloning-to-produce-children, meaning that researchers can utilize cloning and create embryos without […]
Required Reading: Health Policy Interview
Discover has published an interview with Leon Kass, the former chair of the President’s Council on Bioethics, that is far ranging in its discussion of health policy issues. Touching on ethics, technological innovation, end of life issues, reproduction issues, stem cell research, therapy vs. enhancement, access to healthcare, and civic engagement, the interview is well […]
Schedule for AUL Legal Institute Announced. Save the Dates June 23-26, 2008
AUL Legal Institute — June 23-26, 2008 Preliminary Schedule (subject to change) Registration Coming Soon Monday, June 23 9:00 — 9:15 am Welcome Daniel McConchie, M.A., Vice President & Executive Director, Americans United for Life 9:15 — 10:30 am Abortion: The Ultimate Abuser of Women TBD 10:45 — 12:00 pm RU486 and the Coming Chemical […]
The Embryo Conversation Continues
Over the past couple of weeks a fascinating back-and-forth has been going on between the authors of Embryo: A Defense of Human Life, Robert P. George and Christopher Tollefsen, and Slate.com bioethics reporter William Saletan (see here). The latest entry, by George and Tollefsen was posted today at National Review Online. It’s well worth your […]
Required Reading: Banning Human Cloning, the Why and How
Leon Kass, former Chair of The President’s Council on Bioethics, writes in the Weekly Standard on why it is time to ban human cloning, and how to go about doing it. Despite the president’s numerous calls for action, we remain the only major nation in the high-tech world that cannot summon itself to ban human […]
British Lab Creates Three-Parent Embryos
“It is human beings they are experimenting with,” says Countess Josephine Quintavalle, founder of Comment on Reproductive Ethics, regarding the creation of 3-parent embryos by scientists at Newcastle University, England. The new technique amounts to human cloning, using an embryo as a source of DNA. Newcastle scientists created 10 embryos using the DNA of 3 […]
Embryo: A Defense of Human Life
A new book, Embryo: A Defense of Human Life by Robert George and Chris Tollefsen, has been getting a good bit of attention on the web and in the blogosphere. At WORLD, Marvin Olasky interviewed the authors for the January 26 issue Scott Klusendorf summarizes the book at the Life Training Institute blog. And Justin […]
Press Release: Advances in Stem Cell Research Lauded; Need to Ban Human Cloning Remains
Chicago, Illinois – November 20: A pair of scientific papers released today report that scientists in the United States and Japan have succeeded in producing powerful stem cells by “direct reprogramming” of skin cells. The stem cells produced by direct reprogramming are believed to have the same power that embryonic stem cells possess, that is, […]
MO Cloning Battle Heats Up Again
Cathy Ruse of Family Research Council weighs in at NRO on the latest in the battle over cloning in Missouri: Missouri Manipulation — Don’t get conned on cloning.
2007 State Legislative Sessions in Review
Just posted at AUL.org, our review of the 2007 state legislative sessions. Table of Contents Introduction Overall Trends andAnalysis Abortion Amendments to General Abortion Statutes Abortion Bans/Constitutional Amendments Abortion Clinic Regulations Clinic Access/FACE Coerced Abortions Crisis Pregnancy Centers Freedom of Choice Act/FOCA Informed Consent/Women’s Right to Know Insurance Coverage Legislative Declarations Parental Involvement Provider Requirements/Limitations […]
New Initiative in Missouri
A coalition of concerned Missouri citizens, doctors, and academics yesterday launched the “Cures Without Cloning” (CWC) initiative to prohibit human cloning in Missouri. Cures Without Cloning seeks to: Prohibit human cloning. Continue to search for cures and treatments using ethical stem cell research. Prohibit tax-payer money from being used for human cloning experiments. Press release […]
