Perhaps this is an "October surprise" for many people; President Bush has taken the unlikely step of becoming the first President in history to open the doors of Federal laboratories to embryonic stem cell research. Obviously an attempt to win voters in the upcoming election, President Bush has caused an increase in Federal funding in stem cell research from $0 in 2001 to over $24.8 million dollars in 2004. And there is no cap set on how high this funding could go.

No other President in history, including former President Clinton, has ever approved a single dollar towards embryonic stem cell research, even though the debate has come up often over the past decade in White House circles. In fact, former President Clinton BANNED federal funding of any embryonic stem cell research, as evidenced by Clinton administration nih guidelines for embryonic stem cell funding, section III, articles A-G. Specifically interesting is article A which states in no uncertain terms "Areas of research ineligible for NIH funding include:
A. The derivation of pluripotent stem cells from human embryos;"
Interesting.

While embryonic research is indeed controversial, with President Bush's support the USA now has more open lines of embryonic stem cells to work with than any other country in the world. In addition to embryonic research, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded $190 million in "adult" stem-cell research on, for example, cells from bone marrow or placental tissue.

It seems that contrary to many biased claims, the President does indeed support embryonic stem cell research. The funny thing is, this was started in 2001, it just seems like wide spread propoganda has spread lies about the true nature of the Presidents stance on this. October surprise indeed.