http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05156/516098.stm

U.S. relatively hospitable to stem-cell research
Sunday, June 05, 2005
By Michael Woods, Post-Gazette National Bureau

BARCELONA, Spain -- In pushing the U.S. House of Representatives last month to expand federal support for human embryonic stem cell research, proponents argued that the United States was falling behind in what could be one of the most promising medical advances of the age....

...But the concern about falling behind the rest of the world may be overblown. In fact, the United States appears to be a relatively hospitable place for embryonic stem cell research, especially compared to Canada and some nations in Europe where governments not only refuse financial support for human cloning to produce stem cells, they outlaw the practice.

In Canada, scientists who violate the ban can be jailed for 10 years and fined $500,000. "You can bet that with these harsh sanctions scientists are complying," said Rosario M. Isasi, an attorney who works on medical ethics issues at the University of Montreal.

Under German law, scientists who even e-mail or telephone cloning instructions to colleagues in other countries can be thrown into jail for three years and fined more than $60,000. There are key differences among nations when it comes to regulating embryonic stem cell research, according to Robert L. Paarlberg, a professor at Wellesley College in Massachusetts who has written a book on genetic engineering.

The United States restricts the flow of federal money for embryonic stem cell research -- limiting support to a relative handful of stem cell lines created from embryos discarded at in vitro fertilization clinics before August 2001 -- but does not limit private, state or local government funding. California voters last year approved $3 billion for stem cell research...."