By Aimee Murphy, Executive Director and founder of Rehumanize International, and Catherine Glenn Foster, President & CEO of Americans United for Life. This paper consolidates inquiry and analysis of ethical, scientific, juridical, and historical concerns related to the ultimate abolition of abortion in the United States. Facing the reality that it is an all-too-common act […]
Americans United for Life calls on Trump administration for policy change on use of human fetal tissue
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 […]
