Black hole
President Bush's decision to allow federal funding of experiments using the 60 embryonic stem cell lines he estimates were derived prior to Aug. 9, 2001, has been accepted by many in the scientific community as a workable compromise that will allow promising research to proceed. But because the decision does not put in place or even suggest the outlines of an ethical framework for future decisions about controversial research, it simply may lay the groundwork for future rancorous debates.
Limiting federal funding to existing cell lines allowed Bush to claim that he adhered to campaign promises not to allow the destruction of embryos. Thus he aimed to satisfy the large numbers of Americans who polls say favor stem cell research, without completely breaking faith with his most conservative backers. ...