US Supreme Court leaves stem cell research alone
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The U.S. Supreme Court building is draped in a photo-realistic sheet during a repair and preservation project December 7, 2012, 2012 in Washington, DC. -- PHOTO: AFP:
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US Supreme Court declined on Monday to enter the emotionally-charged debate over stem cell research, refusing to hear an appeal centered on the issue of federal government funding.
The top US court did not give a reason for its decision, which ends the long judicial saga over President Barack Obama's 2009 executive order lifting restrictions on financing imposed by his predecessor George W. Bush.
The appeal had come from two researchers working with adult cells rather than embryonic stem cells.
They had asked the Supreme Court to halt financing for stem cell research on the grounds that federal law banned the creation and destruction of embryos for scientific study.
