Maryland to fund stem cell research

New Jersey, California, Connecticut and now, Maryland. The remaining 46 states should be very grateful to those four states since they will spend their money on human embryonic stem cell research and the rest will reap the benefits. It would be nice if the federal government could spend even a fraction of the $300 million they waste everyday in Iraq on something as important as stem cell research. But until the country elects some one sophisticated enough to realize that something the size of a period, '.', isn't 'life', than the country will just continue on with our record deficits by spending our money on the wrong priorities. What a waste.

Governor pledges to sign legislation Maryland will become one of four states that have agreed to fund stem cell research, following final passage yesterday of legislation in the House of Delegates and a pledge from Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) to sign it, despite misgivings by most lawmakers in his party. With Ehrlich's signature, the state will offer as much as $15 million in grants in the coming year to university and private-sector researchers seeking treatments for debilitating conditions through work on stem cells, including those derived from human embryos. In the wake of a 2001 executive order by President Bush limiting federal support for embryonic research, debate over funding the controversial science has been pushed down to statehouses across the country. "We're going to sign it," Ehrlich said of the bill that passed the House 90 to 48 and had already won approval in the Senate. "It furthers our reputation nationally and internationally. . . . It helps us retain our best and brightest here."