In the latest twist in a complex legal battle, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has appealed refusal of a judge Tuesday to lift the ban on funding for human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research. Wednesday night, government lawyers have filed a petition with the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit for an "immediate administrative stay" of the ban. A decision could come as early as this week.
In his brief statement Tuesday, Royce Lamberth CJ rejected the national demand Institutes (NIH) of Health for a stay of the preliminary injunction. In this, he reiterated his view that the current policy NIH violates the Dickey Amendment, which prohibits the federal government to fund research that undermines embryos. "Congress remains perfectly free to amend or revise the law. This Court is not free to do so, "he wrote, seeming to imply that he was in Congress to change the law.
But the Ministry of Justice replied yesterday that Congress has for years both tacitly and explicitly approved approved hESC research. "When Congress included the Dickey Amendment in the proposed fiscal 2010 appropriations law, he was fully aware of the guidelines of the NIH," DOJ lawyers note. They emphasize that specifically stated accompanying report that the Dickey Amendment "shall not be construed to limit federal support for research on human embryonic stem cells." If Congress intended to prohibit hESC research, the government argued, legislators have already changed the law.
The appeal also challenges the decision Lamberth on the "balance of harm" resulting from the financing prohibition. In their action, the plaintiffs James Sherley and Theresa Deisher claim that the funding of the research NIH hESC diverts funds from other work and hurts their chances of winning a scholarship to study adult stem cells. In granting the injunction, Lamberth agreed with this statement and in hESC research would not be seriously harmed because they could "obtain private funding for their research." The call notes of the Ministry of Justice, however, that Deisher, who never asked for the NIH grant, said in a brief submitted on Friday that "private financing is scarce" and that "in order to continue my research ... I have to get funding of "NIH. the call MJ wonders why NIH funding is needed for someone who has never made the request while" it is not as necessary for research of these scientists are now completely cut . "
The US Circuit Court of Appeals, DC Circuit is the same court that gave Sherley and Deisher legal status in June. It is dominated by Republican appointees, but some observers believe is irrelevant because the legal issues do not concern the ethics of research involving embryos, but if the courts should defer to how several jurisdictions have interpreted Dickey -Wicker. The plaintiffs expect to file a motion for summary judgment tomorrow Lamberth-a request that he decided the case without trial. One possible scenario is that the appeal court will injunction while Lamberth considered the case.
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