In my post about President Obama’s executive order on stem cell research funding I mentioned a few things to look out for as a result of his pronouncement. One of those things was the overturning of the Dickey-Wicker Amendment which prohibits federal tax dollars from being used to create or destroy human embryos for scientific research.

I do have good news to report about the amendment (h/t Rebecca Taylor). It turns out it has been once again passed by Congress and subsequently signed by President Obama. However, this may only be a temporary affirmation. Taylor predicts:

I believe this was a political move and not an ethical one. This year, President Obama lifted the funding restriction for embryonic stem cell research put into place by President Bush. In Obama’s speech, he stated he was against human reproductive cloning, leaving the door open for his support of therapeutic cloning which would create and destroy human embryos for research purposes. The federal funding of therapeutic cloning is direct conflict with the Dickey Amendment. So I believe that the Dickey Amendment is already in political gun sites, possibly for 2010.

See Taylor’s posts: What is the Dickey Amendment and Why Should You Care? Part One (which includes a sample letter in support of Dickey that you can send to your congressman) and Part Two for more details.

Pray that this policy stays in place and your tax dollars stay away from Frankenstein-like scientific experimentation.