“Medical and scientific ethics issues are in the news again, as Congress narrowly passed a bill last week that funds controversial embryonic stem cell research. While I certainly sympathize with those who understandably hope such research will lead to cures for terrible diseases, I object to forcing taxpayers who believe harvesting embryos is immoral to pay for it.

Congressional Republicans, eager to appease pro-life voters while still appearing suitably compassionate, supported a second bill that provides nearly $80 million for umbilical cord stem cell research. But it's never compassionate to spend other people's money for political benefit.
The issue is not whether the federal government should fund one type of stem cell research or another. The issue is whether the federal government should fund stem cell research at all… The debate over stem cell research involves profound moral, religious, and ethical question - questions Congress is particularly ill equipped to resolve. The injustice of forcing taxpayers to fund research some find ethically abhorrent is patently obvious… Decentralized decisions and privatized funding would eliminate much of the ill will between supporters and opponents of stem cell research.”

“In Washington you only have two choices. You either have the opportunity to ban it, or subsidize it. Well why not look to the Constitution and the freedom? Just legalize these ideas and allow people to do it and do research. That’s a difficult, sometimes it becomes more difficult, exactly when and where. But under the Constitution the states could actually fund it and they could prevent it. And I have a personal belief from my medical background that stem cell research is very, very important.”