Democrats Debate Methods to End Stem Cell Ban

Thwarted by President Bush in their efforts to expand federal spending on embryonic stem cell research, Democrats are now debating whether to overturn federal restrictions through executive order or by legislation when they assume full control of the government this month. Both President-elect Barack Obama and Democratic Congressional leaders have made repealing Bush administration restrictions announced in 2001 a top priority. But they have yet to determine if Mr. Obama should quickly put his stamp on the issue by way of presidential directive, or if Congress should write a permanent policy into statute. – From NY Times

In the year marking the 40th anniversary of “Humanae Vitae,” Pope Paul VI’s encyclical on human life and birth control, discussion of bioethical issues was relatively muted, but 2009 is not expected to follow suit. The year began with high hopes that discoveries by research teams in Japan and the United States in November 2007 would make stem-cell research involving the destruction of human embryos obsolete. The teams found that human skin cells could be reprogrammed to work as effectively as embryonic stem cells, thus negating the need to destroy embryos in the name of science. – From Catholic News Service