President Bush’s Embryonic Stem Cell Policy

In August of 2001, President Bush established a federal policy on embryonic stem cell research. You are probably confused and believed, as many did, that President Bush cut off federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.

The facts are that the Bush policy allowed federal funds to be used for research on existing stem cell lines derived from embryos that had already been destroyed before August of 2001. The policy did not allow federal funds to be used to destroy more living human embryos.

President Bush and the previous Congress committed hundreds of millions of dollars to ethical adult stem cell research and to establish cord blood banks.

President Obama's Embryonic Stem Cell Policy

By Executive Order, President Obama overturned the Bush policy in 2009, allowing federal tax dollars to be used to destroy living human embryos. It remains to be seen if the Obama administration will commit dollars to ethical research using adult stem cells and iPS cells.

Wisconsin Stem Cell Policy

Governor James Doyle has spent millions of public and private dollars on embryonic stem cell research which relies on the destruction of human life. This research has had zero results for real people to date.

Governor Doyle has spent zero dollars on ethical adult stem cell research where real people with real diseases are being helped.

Wisconsin has a law which informs a pregnant woman that for research purposes she can donate cord blood normally discarded after the birth of her baby.