The Obama administration can chalk another victory as the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit blocks a lower court decision that made embryo research illegal using public funds. That means the government can continue financing the human embryonic cell research.

embryo research

The stem cells are taken from donated human embryos that were left over from fertility treatments. During the research, the embryos are destroyed, which led some anti-abortion activists to compare it to murder.

The Court of Appeals stated that the law was written in the present tense, which means it doesn’t extend to past actions. The lawyer who sued the government to stop the funding for embryo research said that he was disappointed and will appeal the decision.

Because of the ruling, the case will go back to Chief Judge Royce C. Lamberth of the Federal District Court in Washington. He is the same judge who stated last August that the Obama administration would not win the case and issued an immediate ban on federal spending on the said research.

The decision surprised government scientists who had to stop the experiments on several diseases, from Parkinson’s to diabetes. With the government winning the appeal, the ban is temporarily lifted while arguments are being heard.