Yes, you heard that correctly. Just two days after the much-publicized executive order that he signed overturning Bush's ban on embryonic stem cell research, President Obama signed the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009, which contains this paragraph (included in every budget since 1996):
"SEC. 509. (a) None of the funds made available in this Act may be used for—(1) the creation of a human embryo or embryos for research purposes; or (2) research in which a human embryo or embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death greater than that allowed for research on fetuses in utero under 45 CFR 46.204(b) and section 498(b) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 289g(b)). (b) For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘human embryo or embryos’’ includes any organism, not protected as a human subject under 45 CFR 46 as of the date of the enactment of this Act, that is derived by fertilization, parthenogenesis, cloning, or any other means from one or more human gametes or human diploid cells."So, Obama basically was again making a show of his office without actually doing anything to bring about "change." That doesn't bother me at all. I just wanted to point it out for others.