WASHINGTON (CNN) – Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, has signed a bill into law banning the use of some state funds for embryonic stem cell research.<\/p>\n
The move puts the DNC chairman at odds with President Obama, who signed an executive order earlier this month reversing the Bush administration’s ban on federal funding for research on embryonic stem cells.<\/p>\n
Kaine approved the Virginia bill on Monday, according to the governor’s office, the same day he enacted legislation that would permit “Choose Life” license plates in the commonwealth — an act that angered state and national abortion rights advocates.<\/p>\n
It is nice to be able to praise a Catholic Democrat for a change.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Lynda Tran, the governor’s communications director, said that Kaine’s decision is “in keeping with his faith and his personal beliefs.”<\/p>\n
What keeping with his faith and personal beliefs? Didn’t he get the memo about not having to do this?<\/p>\n
“The governor is opposed to the use of state funds to fund embryonic stem cell research, but he generally agrees with the national platform broadly, that there are scientific values to stem cell research,” Tran said. “In Virginia, where there has been strong opposition to embryonic research, he has chosen to focus on other forms of research like adult and placental stem cell research.”<\/p>\n