As the fate of a decision about funding sources for it hangs in the balance, US News & World Report notes that Harris just conducted a poll about embryonic stem cell research. Results show that a clear majority of Americans across many faiths and credos believe it is neither immoral nor unethical.
In August the federal government appealed U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth’s decision about stopping federal funding for this wildly promising field of research. An appeals court put the ban into suspension so that funding for research could continue.
I just realized that 3 of my last 5 posts on this blog have been about the heartening promises of stem cell research, so you don’t have to guess my opinion about it. And I pray the judges are all listening carefully to the fact that citizens of faiths as diverse as Catholics to born-again Christians are in favor of moving ahead. Many even realize that the United States—in addition to already being embarrassingly low on the infant mortality scale among global nations—will fall light years further behind other countries who develop healing technologies with stem cells.
I haven’t been able to determine yet if US District Court judges are appointed or elected, but we can only hope that such an unenlightened ruling is not motivated by a short-sighted desire to hold onto a judgeship.
There are too many lives to be saved and too much suffering to be prevented for us to refuse the gift that God has given us with the miracle of learning how to use stem cells for healing and regrowth.