I find the column by Ann Woolser (“Legacies of Reagan, Bush halt stem cell research,” Aug. 29) almost beyond belief in its small-mindedness.

For those who didn’t read the piece, it has to do with Judge Royce Lamberth’s ruling that President Obama’s executive order restoring the use of federal funds for embryonic stem cell research may be invalid due to a federal law which specifically prohibits killing embryos to conduct research.

She spends an inordinate amount of time describing how various members of the judiciary came to the bench. Not content to place responsibility for her problems on former President George W. Bush, as does our current president, she evokes the memory of Ronald Reagan of 1980s vintage.

She even devotes a couple of paragraphs describing how Democrats attempted to block their nominations. Very little thought is given to the merits of the case.

She states as fact that embryonic stem cell research is “one of the most promising areas of scientific effort aimed at treating, perhaps curing, an array of debilitating and deadly conditions.”

As anyone with even cursory knowledge of the issue knows, embyronic stem cell research has thus far yielded zip, nada, nothing in concrete results, while utilizing adult stem cells (either the recipient’s own or others genetically altered to mirror embryonic cells) has yielded remarkably positive results, even curing some diseases such as diabetes.

Ms. Woolser never mentions the adult cell phenomenon.

What’s more, and from my point of view most importantly, the adult stem cell research has no ethical questions like the killing of human beings.

This aspect of the issue is never alluded to in the article. It’s as if the killing of human beings is not even worthy of discussion. Well, I think it is.

I applaud Judge Lamberth. I applaud President Reagan’s appointments. I applaud President Bush’s judicial appointments.

Please, Ms. Woolser, in the future when writing an opinion column, don’t carp on tangential arguments. Face the issue and argue the merits of the pros and cons.