Embryonic stem cells: Outmoded science

Washington (CNN) -- As you turn on your HDTV and watch the endless controversy over embryonic stem cell research, ask yourself: Should the government spend taxpayer dollars to develop that bulky old cathode-ray television you once owned?

As you install your $79 Blu-ray player, what if Uncle Sam was paying millions to develop Betamax videotapes?

This kind of government waste is what embryonic stem cell researchers are demanding even when science itself, according to scientists such as former NIH Director Bernadine Healy, has made embryonic stem cell research obsolete.

Yet the Obama Justice Department is appealing a recent federal court ruling that stopped funding of embryonic stem cell research because it was contrary to Congress' 1995 law that decided to spend tax dollars on projects that produce treatments instead of destroyed embryos. This is a far-from-baseless ethical concern, as it is tied to the fact that an embryo is a genetically distinct human being from the moment of conception.

Read the whole thing, it's surpising lucidity coming from CNN.