Federal funding for embryonic stem cell research can continue while the government appeals an injunction that would block such financing, a federal court ruled Tuesday.
The decision counts as a victory for the Obama administration, which argued that stopping the research while the case proceeded would harm experiments that could yield life-saving medical treatments.
In August, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth froze federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, based on a 1996 Congressional law that prohibits federal money from being used for scientific research that destroys human embryos.
The latest ruling allows funding to continue until the appeals court reaches a final decision. Exactly when that will happen is unclear—it could be several weeks or months until a final ruling is issued.
The Wall Street Journal reports