Hawking Slams EU Stem Cell Decision

Like the United States, the European Union has been struggling with whether to fund embryonic stem cell research. Yesterday in Brussels, the European Council agreed that money from the EU's science budget could continue to fund embryonic stem cell research, but only for work that doesn't actually destroy an embryo. Stephen Hawking attacked the decision and called it a "fudge." From The Guardian:

Speaking exclusively to EducationGuardian.co.uk after the decision, Prof Hawking, who has motor neurone disease, said: " I hope this fudge will place no practical limits on stem cell research." Prof Hawking, who is Lucasian professor of mathematics at the University of Cambridge, added: "As I understand it, as long as the creation of new stem cell lines is paid for from private funds, or national budgets, EU money can be spent on research using these lines. "We throw away many embryos in IVF and no one objects. Isn't it better to use a few embryos to save lives?"