Stem cell laws and policy in the United States
In May 2005, the House of Representatives voted 238-194 to loosen the limitations on federally funded embryonic stem-cell research — by allowing government-funded research on surplus frozen embryos from in vitro fertilization clinics to be used for stem cell research with the permission of donors — despite Bush's promise to veto if passed.  On July 29, 2005, Senate Majority Leader William H. Frist (R-TN), announced that he too favored loosening restrictions on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. On July 18, 2006, the Senate passed three different bills concerning stem cell research. The Senate passed the first bill, 63-37, which would have made it legal for the Federal government to spend Federal money on embryonic stem cell research that uses embryos left over from "in vitro" fertilization procedures. On July 19, 2006 President Bush vetoed this bill. The second bill makes it illegal to create, grow, and abort fetuses for research purposes. The third bill would encourage research that would isolate pluripotent, i.e., embryonic-like, stem cells without the destruction of human embryos.
Consumer Watchdog v. Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
One possible reason for this apparent lack of concern within the scientific community is that WARF has eased its licensing fees and restrictions to such an extent that most don’t find the overall cost of hESC lines exorbitantly high compared to other cell lines. Also, work on human embryonic stem cell research has been mitigated to a certain extent due to uncertainty about future federal funding and ongoing ethical concerns of such research. Moreover, with the recent discovery of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, many scientists in the field have shifted towards iPS cells for precisely the reasons just stated. Finally, with all of the WARF patents due to expire in 2015, it seems unlikely that the resolution of this case, or any possible future litigation about the ‘913 patent in particular, will have a significant effect on hESC research.