The British parliament has rejected the attempts to ban stem-cell research, in the teeth of ferocious opposition from the powerful religious lobby. Religious leaders have consistently come out against medical advances. Hundreds of years ago, they were against autopsies and medical use of cadavers for research. In the 1800's Christians fought the use of anesthetics on the ground that suffering is God's will and therefore must be endured. This was particularly true for a woman's pain during childbirth, because they could quote the Bible to support their position.
Currently, some religious groups prohibit life-saving blood transfusions. Children die every year because their parents withhold medical treatment, trusting in God instead. Many religious leaders are preventing access to birth control, disease prevention, and information about sexuality. They act as though they would prefer to see people dying of disease or starvation, rather than allow the population to have forbidden products and information.
Now the religious lobby is campaigning against very promising areas of medicine, such as fetal cell research, stem cell research, and therapeutic cloning. They have convinced the U.S. government that these areas of research should be prohibited or severely limited. This has real implications for reducing the possible medical treatments available for each of us and for tens of millions of people in the U.S. who have spinal cord injuries and diseases such as Parkinson's.
They want people to suffer in this life in order to win a place in Heaven. Fortunately, on this occasion, the voice of sanity has prevailed over religious bigotry. But the fundamentalists have announced their determination to continue their campaign. The war between religion and progress continues.