This is about the stem cell research decision by the President today, but not about the stem cell research issue per se. All ye who read on, beware.

In all the considerable coverage this topic has received, and in all the masses of repetition it will receive in the next few days, there is a part which confuses me greatly. It has two equal and opposite sides:

First, if the research is legal in the private sector, why should they seek to make it illegal in the public sector? Alternatively, if the research is to be illegal in the public sector, why should it remain legal for the private sector?

There is no doubt that this is a moral issue, and we have hashed and rehashed the arguments here already. But, I would appreciate an explanation of the presented dilemma. If the destruction of the embryos is wrong, it should be wrong for all. If it is right, it should be right for all. How can an inconsistency be the best policy?

gabby