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Last year the legislature and Gov. Rell passed a law committing $100 million of public funds to stem cell research, including embryonic stem cell research which involves the cloning and killing of human embryos. As we noted on this blog over a month ago, and as the Courant reports today, there is a big problem with the procedure designed to disburse those funds:

It is not even clear who will make the decisions about who gets the money. The state stem cell advisory committee is dominated by members with connections to Yale and UConn, the two institutions expected to get the lion’s share of the state funds. The committee, which is scheduled to meet today, has asked whether members with connections to the universities may approve grant proposals that could benefit their own schools.

Here is one of “several fundamental issues” that “remain unresolved,” according to the Courant:

Should preference be given to scientists who conduct research with human embryonic cells that are subject to federal research prohibitions?

In fact, providing state funding for research that the federal government refuses to fund was the reason this law was passed in the first place. That research involves cloning and killing human embryos, which is why the federal government will not fund it and why our state government should not either.

But in spite of questions involving both conflicts of interest and medical ethics, Connecticut’s culture of death is pushing forward:

UConn officials now are considering dumping a $100,000 limit they placed on research proposals because a cap like that could hamstring more ambitious scientific efforts – such as plans by cloning expert Xiangzhong “Jerry” Yang to create human embryonic cells through cloning.

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