Appellate Court Grants Temporary Stay of Injunction Against Stem Cell Guidelines

On Thursday, the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit granted a temporary stay (full text of order) of a district court order that had enjoined the Department of Health and Human Services from applying the Obama administration's guidelines expanding the availability of grants for embryonic stem cell research. (See prior posting.)  The court called for completion of briefing by the parties on the merits of a motion to stay the district court's injunction by Sept. 20.  Meanwhile, according to Science Insider, the NIH is expediting grant applications hoping to be able to disburse funds for 24 ongoing grants up for renewal in September and for 20 grant proposals that had passed the first stage of peer review, all before the Sept. 20 deadline that could bring reinstatement of the injunction. Meanwhile on Thursday, plaintiffs challenging the guidelines filed a motion for summary judgment with the district court, accompanied by a 64-page memorandum in support of their position. (Full text of motion and supporting memorandum.)