President of Concerned Women for America Wendy Wright pointed out that “millions of dollars” have already been spent on ESCR in places such as California and England. “The results have been abject failure because embryonic stem cells tend to become deadly tumors.”
She further remarked that the alternatives to ESCR are much more “efficient, effective, and are actually treating patients.”
Jenn Giroux, President of Women Influencing the Nation, said the decision insults and offends those who believe the United States was founded and sustained by “the culture of life.”
Listing President Obama’s other pro-abortion actions, Giroux charged that his latest action “makes it feel as though thick black smoke has engulfed the country and the firemen are nowhere to be found to stop the fire.”
Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition, said the policy change shows the president’s “disregard for social justice and human rights.”
“Medical science has confirmed that an embryo is human life regardless of President Obama's lack of education and understanding of the issue,” he remarked. “Mr. Obama has said in the past it is 'above his pay grade' to know when human life begins. I would suggest as the part of the billions spent on the stimulus package that the President's salary be raised so he could further his adult education to understand the basic facts of biology and social justice.”
Also characterizing lifting the ban on public funding for ESCR as “a slap in the face” to pro-life Americans, Mahoney argued “President Obama is once again breaking his campaign promise of building unity and consensus among all groups.”
Finally, Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List noted that though the U.S. “is facing an acute economic crisis…it is shocking to learn that President Obama’s first priority is promoting the idea that American taxpayers should fund the destruction of human life.”
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“There is no coincidence that this policy reversal was timed to secure the maximum amount of taxpayer funds,” she continued. “The National Institutes of Health received $10.4 billion dollars in the Obama Stimulus Package. Today’s executive order reversing the Bush policy allows the President to fast-track billions of taxpayer dollars toward embryonic stem cell research – all without the benefit of public or Congressional debate.”
Sen. John McCain, President Obama’s Republican opponent in the 2008 presidential election, also opposed President Bush’s funding restrictions for ESCR.