Private: Judge Blocks Stem Cell Research Funding

A federal judge in Washington has temporarily blocked federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research authorized by Obama administration regulations.

In a preliminary injunction, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth held that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on the merits because the government guidelines violate a law that prohibits the use of federal funds for research in which human embryos are destroyed, Reuters reports.

"(Embryonic stem cell) research is clearly research in which an embryo is destroyed," Lamberth wrote in a 15-page decision.

Lamberth initially dismissed a suit by the same plaintiffs in October, holding that "embryos lack standing because they are not persons under the law" and the unborn have no right to life protected under the Constitution's 14th Amendment, Bloomberg reported at the time.

 The Court of Appeals overturned the standing decision and remanded the case to Lamberth.

Constitutional Interpretation