And why, you may ask did a federal district court judge do this? No one should be surprised that a Religious Right legal team that included the Alliance Defense Fund filed a suit that made it happen.

As the Times further reported:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. district court issued a preliminary injunction on Monday stopping federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research, in a slap to the Obama administration's new guidelines on the sensitive issue. The court ruled in favor of a suit filed in June by researchers who said human embryonic stem cell research involved the destruction of human embryos. Judge Royce Lamberth granted the injunction after finding the lawsuit would likely succeed because the guidelines violated law banning the use of federal funds to destroy human embryos.

As well as:

Key to the case is the so-called Dickey-Wicker Amendment, which Congress adds to budget legislation every year. It bans the use of federal funds to destroy human embryos.

I learned from Donn Rubin, Chairman of Missouri Cures a pro-embryonic research advocacy group that the usual suspects were behind the court action. The lead plaintiffs are two pro-life activist researchers who run an adult stem cell research companies with a pro-life bent; Dr. James Sherley of Boston Biomedical Research Institute and Theresa Deisher of Ave Maria Biotech. They are backed up by the Alliance Defense Fund, based in Arizona, Against Missouri Cures whom litigated against in 2005 and 2006.

And it is believed that the group is extremely well funded.

More to come.

UPDATE: The Obama administration will appeal the decision.