Contact: Margie Shealy, Christian Medical Association, 423-844-1047

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 /Standard Newswire/ -- A federal district court has granted the Christian Medical Association (CMA, www.cmda.org) and others a preliminary injunction against the Obama administration's attempts to bypass a law that prohibits federal funding of research in which human embryos are harmed or destroyed.

Royce C. Lamberth, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, today issued the preliminary injunction, stating, "Plaintiffs have established that the preliminary injunction factors -- the likelihood of success on the merits, irreparable injury, the balance of hardships, and the public interest -- weigh in favor of a preliminary injunction."

CMA CEO David Stevens, MD, noted, "This case highlights the harm that diverting federal funds away from proven effective research poses to those patients who are waiting for cures. We are grateful that the Court also recognizes the clarity of the law and the harm that funding illegal and unethical embryo-destroying research poses to ethical researchers.

"The bottom line is that ethical stem cell research that does not destroy a living human embryo is the fastest, most efficient and effective means to obtaining real cures for real patients. Already providing hope and help for patients with over 70 diseases, ethical stem cell research that does not destroy living human embryos holds proven promise for even more amazing breakthroughs in the future."

The Court also noted that "the will of Congress, as expressed in the Dickey-Wicker Amendment, is to prohibit federal funding of research in which human embryos are destroyed. Plaintiffs have demonstrated a strong likelihood of success on the merits. The Dickey-Wicker Amendment is unambiguous. It prohibits research in which a human embryo is destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subject to risk of injury or death greater than that allowed under applicable regulations. The Guidelines violate that prohibition by allowing federal funding of ESC research because ESC research depends up on the destruction of a human embryo."

Dr. Stevens noted, "We are grateful for the excellent legal work of Advocates International, and the Alliance Defense Fund in this case, and are proud to stand with fellow plaintiffs Drs. James L. Sherley and Theresa Deisher, Nightlight Christian Adoptions, Shayne and Tina Nelson, William and Patricia Flynn."