Despite increasing foes, U.S. funding ban for human embryo killing endures

This is rather confusing. Pres. Obama is *FOR* embryonic stem cell research, but then he signs this bill opposing embryonic stem cell research. Did he sign it by mistake? Talk about confusing messages coming from the Obama administration.

Addendum: Ah...now I get it. Embryonic stem cell research using federal funding is OK, so long at they are derived from embryos DESTROYED with non-federal funding. Still, experimenting with human beings is an abomination no matter if private funds destroy human life or federal funds are used.

See here:

Despite increasing foes, U.S. funding ban for human embryo killing endures

Washington D.C., Mar 13, 2009 / 10:20 pm (CNA).- A longstanding amendment banning federal funding for research in which human embryos are destroyed, discarded, or "knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death" was part of an omnibus bill signed by President Barack Obama on Wednesday. However, some backers of embryo-destructive research are advocating the amendment’s repeal.

The provision, known as the Dickey-Wicker Amendment, has been included in the annual appropriations bill for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) since 1996. According to CNSNews.com, it is located in Section 509 of Title V, on page 280 of the 465-page H.R. 1105, the Omnibus Appropriations Act 2009.

Barring repeal, the amendment will be in force through September 30, the end of the fiscal year.

The amendment defines the human embryo as "any organism… that is derived by fertilization, parthenogenesis, cloning, or any other means from one or more human gametes or human diploid cells."

On March 9 President Obama overturned President George W. Bush’s executive order barring federal funding for new stem cell lines derived from destroying human embryos. While embryonic stem cell researchers may not use federal funds to create and destroy human embryos for their stem cells, they may acquire stem cells from human embryos destroyed with non-U.S. government funding.

Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO), who has sponsored the House version of a bill that would have legalized federal funding of embryonic stem cell research using embryos from in vitro fertilization clinics, has said she is considering the possibility of repealing the Dickey-Wicker Amendment.

"Dickey-Wicker is 13 years old now, and I think we need to review these policies," Rep. DeGette told the New York Times on Monday. "I’ve already talked to several pro-life Democrats about Dickey-Wicker, and they seemed open to the concept of reversing the policy if we could show that it was necessary to foster this research."

However, other pro-life Democrats are against the embryo-destructive research. More