Tag Archives: ZZ: Sherley v. Sebelius

Prof Life Blogs: Today, on behalf of the adult stem researchers it represents, the Jubilee Campaign’sLaw of Life Project and their co-counsel at the Alliance Defense Fund and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, filed their opening Appellants’ Brief asking the United States Court of Appeals to “reverse the district court’s judgment in favor of Defendants, reverse the grant of Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment and the denial of [Appellants'] Motion for Summary Judgment, and remand with directions to enter summary judgment for [Appellants].”

Catholic News Agency (CNA): The Notice of Appeal was filed on September 19 by Jubilee Campaign’s Law of Life Project and their co-counsel at the Alliance Defense Fund and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

ProLife Blogs: Today, on behalf of the adult stem researchers it represents, the Jubilee Campaign’s Law of Life Project and their co-counsel at the Alliance Defense Fund and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, filed their Notice of Appeal asking the United States Court of Appeals to reinstate their case dismissed by United States District Court for the District of Columbia in its July 27 decision . . .

LifeNews.com: he appeal was filed by the Jubilee Campaign, a Christian law firm, and their co-counsel at the Alliance Defense Fund and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. The Obama administration, via the National Institute of Health’s regulations permitted the federal funding of “research in which” human embryos are “knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death.” Sam Casey, pro-life attorney arguing the case, commented on the appeal, saying, “Each time grant-awarding officials and federally funded scientists support or engage in hESC research, living human embryos are ‘knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death,’ in violation of the federal law known as the Dickey-Wicker Amendment.

Christian Newswire: Today, on behalf of the adult stem researchers it represents, the Jubilee Campaign’s Law of Life Project and their co-counsel at the Alliance Defense Fund and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, filed their Notice of Appeal asking the United States Court of Appeals to reinstate their case dismissed by United States District Court for the District of Columbia in its July 27 decision based upon the district court’s interpretation of the Court of Appeal’s April 29 ruling vacating the district court’s August 23, 2010 preliminary injunction of the National Institute of Health’s regulations that Obama administration promulgated to permit the federal funding of “research in which” human embryos are “knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death.”

American Medical News: he plaintiffs have not decided whether to appeal Lamberth’s dismissal but are considering all options, said Steve Aden, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund in Washington, part of the plaintiffs’ legal team. “In these tough economic times, it makes no sense for the federal government to use taxpayer money for this illegal and unethical purpose.”

American Medical News: The plaintiffs have not decided whether to appeal Lamberth’s dismissal but are considering all options, said Steve Aden, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund in Washington, part of the plaintiffs’ legal team. “In these tough economic times, it makes no sense for the federal government to use taxpayer money for this illegal and unethical purpose.”

CNS: “Americans should not be forced to pay for experiments that destroy human life, have produced no real-world treatments and violate federal law,” Aden said in a July 27 statement. “The law is clear, and we intend to review all of our options for appeal of this decision. “In these tough economic times, it makes no sense for the federal government to use taxpayer money for this illegal and unethical purpose,” he added.

OneNewsNow.com: “Americans should not be forced to pay for experiments that destroy human life, have produced no real-world treatments, and violate federal law,” he contends. “The district court’s injunction simply enforced that law, which makes sure Americans don’t pay any more precious taxpayer dollars for needless research made irrelevant by adult stem-cell and other research.”

Chemical & Engineering News: The litigation, however, is likely to continue. The plaintiffs plan to review all options for an appeal, according to their attorney, Steven H. Aden of the Alliance Defense Fund. “In these tough economic times, it makes no sense for the federal government to use taxpayer money for this illegal and unethical purpose,” Aden says.

The New American: James Sherley, one of the plaintiffs in the suit, who uses adult stem cells in his research, was set to file an appeal of the verdict, with the aid of the Alliance Defense Fund, which represented him and Theresa Deisher in the lawsuit. “Americans should not be forced to pay for experiments that destroy human life, have produced no real-world treatments, and violate federal law,” ADF senior counsel Steven Aden said after the verdict. “The law is clear, and we intend to review all of our options for appeal of this decision.”

Daily Kos: Sherley and Deisher can appeal the ruling. The Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative organization that assisted with the lawsuit, said in a statement that its attorneys and other lawyers involved in the case were “weighing all of their options for appeal.”

NCRegister.com subcaption: Americans should not be forced to pay for experiments that destroy human life, have produced no real-world treatments, and violate federal law,’ said Steven Aden, senior council at the Alliance Defense Fund, which supported the lawsuit. The group is reviewing its options for appeal.

Missouri Lawyers Media (subscription) (blog) – Tom Schoenberg, Scott Lauck – ‎16 hours ago‎ Their lawyer, Steven Aden of the Alliance Defense Fund, said his clients are weighing all of their options for an appeal. Missouri Cures, a nonprofit organization that helped pass a 2006 state constitutional amendment passage that protects the ability …

Christian Post: “Americans should not be forced to pay for experiments that destroy human life, have produced no real-world treatments, and violate federal law,” said ADF senior counsel Steven H. Aden. “The law is clear, and we intend to review all of our options for appeal of this decision,” he added. “In these tough economic times, it makes no sense for the federal government to use taxpayer money for this illegal and unethical purpose.”

International Business Times: “American should not be forced to pay for experiments that destroy human life, have produced no real-world treatments, and would violate federal law,” said ADF senior counsel Steven Aden. “The law is clear, and we intend to review all our options for appeal of this decision. “In these tough economic times, it makes no sense for the federal government to use taxpayer money for this illegal and unethical purpose.”

World Net Daily: ADF said, “The judge explained that he believes his hands have been tied by an appellate court decision that reversed his August 2010 order to stop the funding in light of a federal law that prohibits it.” ADF Senior Counsel Steven H. Aden said Americans “should not be forced to pay for experiments that destroy human life, have produced no real-world treatments, and violate federal law.” “The district court’s injunction simply enforced that law, which makes sure Americans don’t pay any more precious taxpayer dollars for needless research made irrelevant by adult stem cell and other research,” he said. “The law is clear, and we intend to review all of our options for appeal of this decision. In these tough economic times, it makes no sense for the federal government to use taxpayer money for this illegal and unethical purpose.”

Christian Post: “Americans should not be forced to pay for experiments that destroy human life, have produced no real-world treatments, and violate federal law,” said ADF Senior Counsel Steven H. Aden in a statement. “The district court’s injunction simply enforced that law, which makes sure Americans don’t pay any more precious taxpayer dollars for needless research made irrelevant by adult stem cell and other research. The law is clear, and we intend to review all of our options for appeal of this decision. In these tough economic times, it makes no sense for the federal government to use taxpayer money for this illegal and unethical purpose.”

Warren Richey at the Christian Science Monitor via the Alaska Dispatch: “Americans should not be forced to pay for experiments that destroy human life, have produced no real-world treatments, and violate federal law,” said Steven Aden, senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund. “In these tough economic times, it makes no sense for the federal government to use taxpayer money for this illegal and unethical purpose,” Mr. Aden said in a statement.

Eryn Brown at the San Francisco Chronicle: Sherley and Deisher can appeal the ruling. The Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative organization that assisted with the lawsuit, said in a statement that its attorneys and other lawyers involved in the case were “weighing all of their options for appeal.”

Carolyn Y. Johnson at The Boston Globe: “The law is clear, and we intend to review all of our options for appeal of this decision,’’ said Steven H. Aden, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, a nonprofit alliance of Christian attorneys that was cocounsel in the lawsuit.

The Washington Post: ttorneys involved in the challenge, including Alliance Defense Fund senior counsel Steven Aden, said that they were weighing their options for appeal of the ruling.
“Americans should not be forced to pay for experiments that destroy human life, have produced no real-world treatments and violate federal law,” he said. “In these tough economic times, it makes no sense for the federal government to use taxpayer money for this illegal and unethical purpose.”

LaTimes.com: Sherley and Deisher can appeal the ruling. The Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative organization that assisted with the lawsuit, said in a statement that its attorneys and other lawyers involved in the case were “weighing all of their options for appeal.”

WSJ.com: Alliance Defense Fund senior counsel Steven Aden, one of the lawyers for the scientists, suggested the legal fight wasn’t over. “We’re evaluating all of our options for appeal,” he said.

NPR: “The law is clear, and we intend to review all of our options for appeal of this decision,” said a statement from Steven Aden of the Alliance Defense Fund. “In these tough economic times, it makes no sense for the federal government to use taxpayer money for this illegal and unethical purpose.” | Hundreds of reports appear in connection with this ruling.

ScienceInsider: Steven Aden of the Alliance Defense Fund in Washington, D.C., one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, said in a statement that they “are weighing all of their options for appeal.” The plaintiffs’ first recourse would be to go back to the appeals court, where the same three-member panel would probably hear the case, says Greely. If they lose again, which seems likely, the plaintiffs can appeal to the Supreme Court. “I think they will lose [in the Supreme Court], but it’s probably worth it for them to give it a shot,” says Greely.

DF said today it might appeal the dismissal, which was viewed as a White House victory.
“Americans should not be forced to pay for experiments that destroy human life, have produced no real-world treatments, and violate federal law,” said ADF senior counsel Steven Aden. “The district court’s injunction simply enforced that law, which makes sure Americans don’t pay any more precious taxpayer dollars for needless research made irrelevant by adult stem cell and other research. The law is clear, and we intend to review all of our options for appeal of this decision. In these tough economic times, it makes no sense for the federal government to use taxpayer money for this illegal and unethical purpose.”

LifeNews.com: The Alliance Defense Fund, responding to today’s ruling by Judge Lamberth saying he must follow the decision of a Federal appeals court that wanted the case thrown out, said its attorneys will join Samuel B. Casey of the Jubilee Campaign’s Law of Life Project and pro-life attorney Tom Hungar to consider filing the appeal. The pro-life legal team members are weighing all of their options for appeal in light of a federal judge’s ruling that the embryonic funding can continue despite it violating a 1996 law prohibiting the funding of research destroying human embryos.

Charisma: Alliance Defense Fund attorneys, together with Samuel B. Casey of the Jubilee Campaign’s Law of Life Project and Tom Hungar of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP, are weighing all appeal options. “Americans should not be forced to pay for experiments that destroy human life, have produced no real-world treatments and violate federal law,” said ADF Senior Counsel Steven H. Aden. “The district court’s injunction simply enforced that law, which makes sure Americans don’t pay any more precious taxpayer dollars for needless research made irrelevant by adult stem cell and other research. The law is clear, and we intend to review all of our options for appeal of this decision. In these tough economic times, it makes no sense for the federal government to use taxpayer money for this illegal and unethical purpose.”

Nature News Blog: Today, Lamberth wrote: “While it may be true that by following the Court of Appeals’ conclusion as to the ambiguity of “research,” this Court has become a grudging partner in a bout of “linguistic jujitsu”, such is life for a [lower] court.” . . . Plaintiffs’ attorney Stephen Aden of the Washington, D.C.-based Alliance Defense Fund, portrayed Lamberth as having his “hands tied” by the court of appeals’ April decision. “Americans should not be forced to pay for experiments that destroy human life, have produced no real-world treatments, and violate federal law,” Aden said in a statement. “The law is clear, and we intend to review all of our options for appeal of this decision.”

LifeNews.com: Thomas G. Hungar, one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs, which includes the Alliance Defense Fund and the Christian Medical Association, said in 2009 when the lawsuit was filed, “the language of the [Dickey-Wicker] statute is clear” that it “bans public funding for any research that leads to the destruction of human embryos.” “NIH’s attempt to avoid Congress’s command by funding everything but the act of ‘harvesting’ is pure sophistry. The guidelines will result in the destruction of human embryos and are unlawful, unethical, and unnecessary,” he told LifeNews.com at the time.

USATODAY.com: Reached by phone, Steve Aden of the Alliance Defense Fund, which supported the lawsuit by researcher James Sherley of the Boston Biomedical Research Institute, says, “we think the law is clear and intend to examine all our options to appeal.” ADF is a “network of attorneys brings a wealth of experience to the fight to defend religious freedom, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family,” according to its website.

Boston Globe: In a statement, attorneys who brought the lawsuit said they are considering next steps. “The law is clear, and we intend to review all of our options for appeal of this decision,” said Steven H. Aden, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, a nonprofit alliance of Christian attorneys and co-counsel in the lawsuit.

Reuters at Chicagotribune.com: Attorneys involved in the challenge, including Alliance Defense Fund senior counsel Steven Aden, said they were weighing their options for appeal of the ruling. “Americans should not be forced to pay for experiments that destroy human life, have produced no real-world treatments, and violate federal law,” he said. “In these tough economic times, it makes no sense for the federal government to use taxpayer money for this illegal and unethical purpose.”

Federal judge says federal funding of embryonic stem cell research will continue in light of higher court’s decision to reverse his decision

A federal judge has dismissed one of the lawsuits filed against President Barack Obama’s executive order forcing taxpayers to finance embryonic stem cell research involving the destruction of human life.

Christian Newswire (6/24): Today, on behalf of the adult stem researchers it represents, the Jubilee Campaign’s Law of Life Project and their co-counsel at the Alliance Defense Fund and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, following a second remand from the United States Court of Appeals, filed its “supplemental brief” asking the United States District Court to provide summary judgment on each of their clients’ claims based on the National Institute of Health’s clear violation of two separate laws: (1) the Dickey-Wicker Amendment that bars federal funding of any “research in which” human embryos are “knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death;” and, (2) the Administrative Procedure Act that prohibits a government agency, from patently ignoring or prejudging public comments submitted in opposition to unlawful agency action, like NIH has been and is doing in this case. [numerous hyperlinks available at the Christian Newswire site]

LifeNews: TThomas G. Hungar, one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs, which includes the Alliance Defense Fund and the Christian Medical Association, said in 2009 when the lawsuit was filed, “the language of the [Dickey-Wicker] statute is clear” that it “bans public funding for any research that leads to the destruction of human embryos.” “NIH’s attempt to avoid Congress’s command by funding everything but the act of ‘harvesting’ is pure sophistry. The guidelines will result in the destruction of human embryos and are unlawful, unethical, and unnecessary,” he told LifeNews.com at the time. Sam Casey, General Counsel of Advocates International’s Law of Life Project, a public interest legal project involved in the case, pointed out . . .

Russell Korobkin at the Volokh Conspiracy: The bottom line is that, while last week’s decision preserved the status quo of permitting federal funding for now, it probably did not resolve anything. The strong odds now are that Judge Lamberth will grant the plaintiffs summary judgment in the lawsuit, reiterating his interpretation of Dickey-Wicker Amendment, that the D.C. Circuit will stay the ruling pending appeal, and that all the parties will wait while the D.C. Circuit considers essentially the same issue again.

Law360.com: The plaintiffs are represented by Samuel Casey of Advocates International, Steven Aden of Alliance Defense Fund and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP’s Thomas Hungar, Bradley Lingo and Ryan J. Watson.

Thomas G. Hungar, one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs, which includes the Alliance Defense Fund and the Christian Medical Association, said in 2009 when the lawsuit was filed, “the language of the [Dickey-Wicker] statute is clear” that it “bans public funding for any research that leads to the destruction of human embryos.” “NIH’s attempt to avoid Congress’s command by funding everything but the act of ‘harvesting’ is pure sophistry. The guidelines will result in the destruction of human embryos and are unlawful, unethical, and unnecessary,” he told LifeNews.com at the time.

LifeNews: “Taking advantage of an appeals court ruling striking down an injunction against his forcing Americans to pay for embryonic stem cell research, the Obama administration is looking at more funding . . . ”

One News Now: Matt Bowman  an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund . . .  We’re hopeful that the [DC] Court of Appeals will agree with the district court that simply made sure Americans don’t pay any more of their precious taxpayer dollars for needless research…made irrelevant by adult stem cell and other research that actually treats people.” ADF is asking the court to rule that the administration is violating federal law and halt the use of tax money for the research.

LifeNews: Alliance Defense Fund legal counsel Matt Bowman talked with the Christian Post about the case and said that, while it continues, the Obama administration continues to make taxpayers fund embryonic stem cell research. “The government is shoveling tax dollars out the door while it can,” he said. “Americans should not be forced to pay for experiments that destroy human life, have produced no real-world treatments, and violate federal law.” “They focused more on that desire (to explore the alleged benefits of embryonic stem cell research) than the statutes that say taxpayer money should not be spent in this destructive way,” Bowman said of the Obama administration’s attorneys.

Christian Post: The Alliance Defense Fund argued for an injunction on the federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. Currently, a temporary stay is allowing researchers to receive federal grants to fund research using embryonic stem cells.
ADF legal counsel Matt Bowman says the Obama administration is taking full advantage of the stay.“The government is shoveling tax dollars out the door while it can,” he stated . . .

Alliance Defense Fund Legal Counsel Matt Bowman will be available for media interviews Monday following oral arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Sherley v. Sebelius.

LifeNews: “The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia will hear oral arguments Monday in the appeal of a lower court ruling related to the lawsuit brought by stem cell research scientists . . . [Steven Aden], a lead attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund applauded [the lower court's ruling]. ‘The American people should not be forced to pay for experiments — prohibited by federal law — that destroy human life,’ he said.”

WisBusiness.com: “Governor Doyle has pledged to assist the U.S. Department of Justice in its efforts to uphold the guidelines and secure federal funding for stem cell researchers in Wisconsin and across the nation. ”

Baptist Press: “Scientists at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute in Boston, Mass., published studies showing they had reprogrammed adult skin cells into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells without the hazards previously associated with the technique. Unlike previous conversions of adult cells into stem cells virtually identical to those in embryos, these iPS cells did not require the use of viruses to insert genes into cells — a technique which increases the risk of cancer in the recipient of the cells.”

“A team of researchers at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute in Boston published a series of experiments Thursday showing that synthetic biological signals can quickly reprogram ordinary skin cells into entities that appear virtually identical to embryonic stem cells.”

ADF attorney Steve Aden appeared on KCMN with Tron Simpson to provide an update on the embryonic stem cell litigation. | MP3 audio 7:10 mins

OneNewsNow: “‘The American taxpayers said 15 years ago that public funding cannot be provided for embryonic stem-cell research, and this is a test in the courts [on] whether the rule of law will be upheld or whether taxpayer dollars will continue to be used for research that has proven to be unproductive, unlawful, and unethical,’ ADF attorney [Steve Aden] comments about the latest decision.”

The New American: “The Alliance Defense Fund is involved in the lawsuit that challenges the use of federal funds for embryonic stem-cell research. [Steven Aden], senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund reacted to the Appeals Court decision. ‘We believe it’s a shame that they would rush to push funding of embryonic stem cell research, and a waste of taxpayer money.’”

“A federal appeals court has lifted the injunction a federal judge put in place stopping President Barack Obama from forcing taxpayers to finance unproven embryonic stem cell research while scientists continue with their lawsuit against the funding.”

LifeNews: “The Obama administration argued with an appeals court on Monday to overturn the decision a federal judge issued to temporarily halt taxpayer funding of embryonic stem cell research that destroys human lives to produce. They claimed the temporary funding ban would hurt scientific research . . . [Steven Aden], a lead attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund applauded Lamberth’s decision. ‘The American people should not be forced to pay for experiments — prohibited by federal law — that destroy human life,’ he said. ‘The court is simply enforcing an existing law passed by Congress that prevents Americans from paying another penny for needless research on human embryos.’”

Associated Press: “Judge Thomas Griffith questioned whether the work would really be irreparably harmed or just delayed if the government ultimately can win the ongoing case.”

Linda Greenhouse writing at The New York Times / Opinionator: “So consider this column a standing alert: recent developments of potentially great consequence are pushing the question of standing to the forefront in a way that promises to make it one of the hot legal topics of the coming months or even years. Litigation over health care and stem cell research is scrambling the usual playlist. Conservative federal judges, who typically take a constricted view of eligibility to bring a federal lawsuit, are suddenly throwing the courthouse doors open wide.”

ChristianNewsWire: “Advocates International (AI), part of the public interest legal team along with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher (GD&C) who brought the case before the court more than a year ago, joined even the government’s opposition and filed their clients’ opposition to the University of California Regents’ untimely and insufficient motion to intervene in a desperate effort to try to protect their patently pecuniary interest in the unlawful, unethical and unnecessary continuance of federal funding of research involving the destruction of living human embryos pending the government’s appeal of the preliminary injunction barring such funding.”

Jeffrey Toobin writing at The New Yorker: “If the Court had remained basically the same as the one Breyer joined in 1994, he might well have served out his tenure in genial anonymity . . . But his new colleagues and their allies are different from the conservatives who dominated the Court during the Rehnquist years. They are reviving a set of constitutional issues that looked, to Breyer and others, as though they had long been settled. And on these issues Breyer is not so cautious and not so cheerful, and he has sailed, with uncharacteristic zeal, straight into the fight . . . Obama’s agenda, at its core, relies on the administrative state to solve problems—in health care, the economy, and the environment. As a scholar and a judge, Breyer has spent his career trying to justify what this President is trying to do. ‘Every piece of important legislation that’s been passed so far will be challenged on constitutional grounds,’ Noah Feldman said. ‘With Stevens gone, Breyer is now the critical figure. He will remind everyone that regulation is a necessary component, when properly deployed, of good government.’”

Political Cortex: “An appeals court in the United States suspended a ban imposed last month on federally-funded research involving embryonic stem cells . . . However, with legal action ongoing, the extent to which NIH will be able to pursue and fund projects remains unclear. The legal action, which was also backed by Christian groups including the Alliance Defense Fund, is against the NIH.”

ADF attorney Matt Bowman appeared on KFUO Radio with Roland Lettner to discuss federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.  | MP3 audio 23:07 mins | Related ADF Media information

The Tech (MIT): “Arguments will be heard at 10 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 27. It had previously been expected the court would decide on the strength of briefs filed before it, the last of which is due Sept. 20. The court will probably rule a few days after oral argument . . . The lawyers for Sherley and Deisher, are all working pro bono, meaning free of charge, because they believe the work is in the public interest. The lead counsel is Thomas G. Hungar, a partner at the high-powered law firm of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher; five Gibson Dunn associates are also on the case. They are joined by Samuel B. Casey of Advocates International and Steven H. Aden of the Alliance Defense Fund.”

Blog of LegalTimes: “A federal appeals court in Washington will hear oral argument Sept. 27 in the government’s challenge of a preliminary injunction that blocks funding for human embryonic stem cell research.”

Neuhaus Colloquium statement published at First Things: “If the new policy survives the challenge of litigation, for the first time in U.S. history, taxpayer funds will be available to promote research that requires the destruction of human embryos. This sharp reversal of direction was imposed with essentially no public justification or argument, and indeed with efforts that mask its true nature and significance. Since the new policy took effect, with an executive order issued in early March of last year, the Obama administration and its congressional allies have sought to avoid further argument about embryo-destructive research and to depict the debate as settled.”

Law.com: “The Gibson team, working with Washington’s Alliance Defense Fund and Fairfax, Va.-based Advocates International, said in the court papers that a stay pending appeal ‘would lead to a flight of federal dollars into [human embryonic stem cell] research,’ hurting Sherley and Deisher and other National Institutes of Health grant applicants.”

Matt Bowman writes at CNN: “Human embryonic stem cell research is the $10,000 toilet seat of the 21st century.”

CBN News (video): “Steven Aden, senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, discussed the immediate impact of the ruling and more on the Friday, September 10 edition of CBN Newschannel’s Morning program.”

LifeNews: “Today, attorneys for Advocates International, part of the pro-life legal team with the Alliance Defense Fund and the law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, filed their 147-page opposition to the government’s 165-page request for an emergency stay of the federal district court’s order preventing funding while the case continues.”

Advocates International (AI), part of the public interest legal team along with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher (GD&C) who brought the case before the court more than a year ago, announced this evening that their clients have now filed in the federal court of appeals their 147-page opposition to the government’s 165-page request for an emergency stay of the federal district court’s order enjoining the government’s unlawful, unethical and unnecessary federal funding of research involving the destruction of living human embryos pending the government’s appeal of that court’s preliminary injunction order.

Boston.com (AP): “Sen. Arlen Specter on Monday initiated a drive to legalize federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, superseding conflicting court decisions that he said are slowing critical work to find cures for crippling diseases.”

At Public Discourse, “An Executive Summary of the Statement of the First Annual Neuhaus Colloquium”: “In this our first statement we take up the ethical, political, and scientific issues raised by President Obama’s stem-cell policy. This statement, the full version of which appears in First Things, represents the considered judgment of some of the leading scientists and public intellectuals today—a major statement on a pressing and timely topic . . . In the name of the American people and with the funds provided by them, the Obama administration has begun to incentivize the exploitation and destruction of human life for scientific research. It has done so without addressing the profound moral issues at stake, without offering a serious argument in defense of its approach, and in spite of the fact that alternatives to the destruction of embryos are emerging in stem-cell science.”

ADF attorney Matt Bowman appeared on the Zeb Bell Show to discuss the problem of government funding of embryonic stem cell research. | MP3 audio 12:46 mins | ADF Media information on the Sherley v. Sebelius ruling.

BioNews: “A federal appeals court in the US has ruled that federal funding for embryonic stem (ES) cell research may continue and an injunction placed on the funding by a lower court last month is temporarily suspended . . . Opponents argue that federal funds should not be used in research that involves the destruction of what many consider human life and that the benefits of the research are as yet unproven. ‘We believe it’s a shame that they would rush to push funding of ES cell research, and a waste of taxpayer money,’ said a lawyer instructed by the Alliance Defense Fund which is involved in bring the action against the NIH. Opponents have been asked to file a response to the court by 14 September and the Government must then submit its response six days later.”

WorthyNews: “‘The American people should not be forced to pay for even one more day of experiments that destroy human life, have produced no real-world treatments, and violate an existing federal law,’ said Alliance Defense Fund Senior Legal Counsel [Steven H. Aden]. ‘The district court’s decision simply enforced that law, which prevents Americans from paying another penny for needless research on human embryos made irrelevant by adult stem cell and other research. In economic times like we are in now, it doesn’t make sense for the federal government to use precious taxpayer dollars for this illegal and unethical purpose.’”

MercatorNet / Sheila Reports: “The Alliance Defense Fund, co-counsel in this suit, helps us follow the straight line narrative. Starting with the August ruling, revealing what the Obama administration was trying to do in the first place: ‘The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia found last month that the policy President Obama attempted to institute through an executive order in March 2009–which rescinded former President George W. Bush’s executive order limiting federal funding of embryonic stem cell research–is likely in violation of the Dickey/Wicker Amendment, a federal law prohibiting the federal funding of research involving the destruction of human embryos. The district court issued a preliminary injunction that immediately halted funding.’”