Reuters: "Obama to lift ban on stem research soon"

The story is as deceitful as the headline. Truth is, there is no federal ban on stem cell research in general or even on embryonic stem cell research in particular. There is only a partial ban, put in place by President Bush in 2001, against providing federal funds for that form of stem cell research that involves the killing of human embryos. This National Review symposium on the subject, published just after President Bush's speech outlining the policy, considers its details and potential ramifications.

Here are the first few paragraphs of that Reuters story...corrected:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will soon issue an executive order lifting an eight-year ban [on federal funding of] embryonic stem cell research imposed by his predecessor, President George W. Bush, a senior adviser said on Sunday.

"We're going to be doing something on that soon, I think. The president is considering that right now," Obama adviser David Axelrod said on "Fox News Sunday."

In 2001, Bush limited federal funding for [embryonic] stem cell research only to human embryonic stem cell lines that already existed. It was a gesture to his conservative Christian supporters [and others] who regard embryonic stem cell research as destroying potential life, because the cells must be extracted from human embryos [,which are destroyed in the process].

See, wasn't that easy? With those few minor modifications, we have a fair and balanced news story instead of a propaganda piece.