|
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
| Printer Friendly |
|
Victory Achieved in Nightlight Christian Adoptions v. Tommy G. Thompson Nightlight Christian Adoptions, an agency that has arranged for infertile couples to adopt human embryos stored at in vitro fertilization clinics, filed suit against the Department of Human Services, HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on March 8, 2001. The suit sought to overturn NIH's controversial Guidelines that would allow federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. On January 14, 2002, the suit was voluntarily dismissed by plaintiffs counsel after all the objectives of the litigation were achieved by changes made by the Bush Administration, including the withdrawal of the controversial NIH Guidelines on November 7, 2002, and the issuance of an HHS General Counsel Memorandum on January 11, 2002 indicating that the Bush Administration would interpret existing federal law to ban all federal funding of destructive human embryo research. The details are set forth below. In 1994, the U.S. Congress banned NIH from funding research in which human embryos "are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death." According to Thomas G. Hungar, a lawyer for Nightlight Christian Adoptions and the other plaintiffs, "Congress clearly intended to ban public funding for any research that leads to the destruction of human embryos." On August 25, 2000, however, NIH published "Guidelines for Research Using Human Pluripotent Stem Cells." The Guidelines circumvent the Congressional ban on destruction of human embryos by permitting federal funding of research on embryonic stem cells that are derived from human embryos. Federal agencies would not fund the destruction of the embryos but would fund research on stem cells derived from embryos that were privately destroyed in anticipation of federal funding for research of the stem cells "harvested" from such destruction. Christian Legal Society supports federal funding of adult stem cell research, which uses stems cells taken from an individual's blood, bone marrow, and skin, or cord blood taken immediately after birth. Clinical trials using adult stem cells have successfully reversed the effects of diseases such as lupus, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis. CLS' affiliate, Human Life Advocates, serves as co-counsel for Nightlight Christian Adoptions and the other plaintiffs: Christian Medical Association, Dr. David Prentice, who specializes in adult stem cell research, and infertile couples who have adopted or seek to adopt frozen embryos. The case was stayed by court order pending a final decision from the President on whether to back the NIH Guidelines or withdraw and modify them. On August 9, 2002, the President announced that his Administration would not support federal funding of destructive human embryo research, but would support research on registered embryonic stem cell lines existing prior to that date where the life and "death" decision had already been made. On November 7, 2001, HHS withdrew its controversial NIH Guidelines that were the subject of plaintiffs' lawsuit. On January 10, 2002, the President signed the 2002 Labor/HHS Appropriations Act (H.R. 3061) including the reenactment of the federal funding prohibition against research in which human embryos are destroyed. In the words of the President on that day: "I am pleased that the final version of the [Labor/HHS Appropriations] bill retains the prohibition against research in which human embryos are destroyed, and reinforces my determination on August 9, 2001, to support federally funded stem cell research in an ethical manner." On January 11, 2002, HHS issued its General Counsel Memorandum to Ruth Kirschstein, Acting Director, National Institutes of Health, affirming the legality of the President's policy prohibiting federal funding of destructive human embryo research and defining the limitations on federal funding for research on existing human embryonic stem cell lines. In the words of the HHS General Counsel's attached legal memorandum: "The President's policy is consistent with the plain language of the [bill]….Under the President's policy, federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research is limited to a discrete set of stem cells with respect to which the life and death decision had been made prior to the announcement of his policy. The President's policy provides no incentives for the destruction of additional embryos….So limited, the President's policy does not provide federal funding for research in which (during the course of, during or part of the act or process of, or within the category of class of] embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death….within the ordinary, common usage of those terms. The policy is, thus, consistent with the second restriction of the [2002 Labor/HHS Appropriations Act]. Accordingly, having effectively stopped federal funding for destructive human embryo research, Samuel Casey, Senior Counsel for CLS' Human Life Advocates was pleased to announce on January 14, 2002, that plaintiffs were dismissing their action without prejudice, but would be monitoring the situation and would recommence litigation should federal funding of destructive human embryo research ever be again proposed. The focus of attention now moves from the court to Capitol Hill as Congress returns and the Senate prepares to debate the Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2001 (S. 790), passed by the House last year (H.R.2505). CLS supports the enactment of S. 790. Documents:
|
|
 Back To Top |
|
|
