Federal Policy

On March 9, 2009, President Barack Obama issued Executive Order (EO) 13505, entitled Removing Barriers to Responsible Scientific Research Involving Human Stem Cells (108KB PDF; get Adobe Reader).

The March 9, 2009 EO changes the way National Institutes of Health (NIH) can support and conduct human stem cell research. The HHS Secretary, through the NIH Director, is required to review existing NIH and other widely-recognized guidelines on human stem cell research and issue new NIH guidance within 120 days of the date of the EO. The National Institutes of Health Guidelines on Human Stem Cell Research were published on July 7, 2009.

The EO also revokes two items:

• the presidential statement of August 9, 2001.
• Executive Order 13435 (100KB PDF; get Adobe Reader) of June 20, 2007.
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For More on the Executive Order and NIH Guidelines

• See Memorandum from the President for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies Regarding Guidelines for Human Stem Cell Research
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• See Implementation of Executive Order on Removing Barriers to Responsible Scientific Research Involving Human Stem Cells (NOT-OD-09-085)
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• See President Obama's speech on the White House Web site
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• See NIH Releases Public Comments on the NIH Draft Guidelines for Human Stem Cell Research
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See Also:

Policy & Guidelines Archive Policy statements and guidelines on federally funded stem cell research.
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Congressional Testimony Transcripts of Congressional testimony.
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Congressional Legislation Links to House and Senate bills relating to stem cell research.

Stem Cell Litigation

• Court's Opinion (294 KB PDF) (07/27/11) - U.S. District Court enters judgment for the government.
• NIH Director's Statement on the Judgment (07/27/11) - Response to the U.S. District court decision of 07/27/11.
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