Skirting the Illinois Legislature, Gov. Blagojevich on Tuesday committed $10 million of taxpayer money to stem cell research.
Last spring, stem cell research bills stalled in the Legislature. So Blagojevich established a stem cell research institute on his own authority, by signing an executive order. Blagojevich defended his tactics: "It's the right thing to do, and however you get there is immaterial."
Blagojevich signed the executive order at Children's Memorial Hospital, to the cheers of patients, researchers and mostly Democratic politicians. Embryos would be donated by couples who had undergone fertility treatments. Fertility clinics in Illinois are storing as many as 70,000 "excess" frozen embryos, which are no longer needed because couples have stopped trying to get pregnant.
The Legislature could overturn the Democratic governor's executive order with a majority vote in the House and Senate, but that's unlikely because Democrats control both houses.
More
No comments:
Post a Comment