Does the Texas Legislature really want to undermine significant medical research and hobble the work of the state's $3 billion cancer research institute by outlawing embryonic stem cell research?

That almost certainly will result if a rider inserted into the budget bill by state Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, passes. It would prohibit any state funds from aiding research using embryonic stem cells. Ogden is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee considering the budget bill.

We hope wisdom prevails and the rider eventually is struck and the budget passes without such anti-science limitations. Ogden also has filed a separate bill to bar any state money from supporting research on human embryos.

Texas is on the verge of becoming the state considered most resistant to scientific research and knowledge, a state that is regressing instead of progressing. This is the wrong time for Texas to be seen as backward.

President Barack Obama has lifted the ban on federal funding for research on new lines of embryonic stem cells, which could bring amazing medical discoveries. This state's medical and research institutions, and people suffering from debilitating conditions like Parkinson's disease, could benefit greatly from that research.

Also, Texas is embarking on a huge and hugely expensive project on cancer research that could be stymied if embryonic stem cell research is banned. State voters approved $3 billion to establish the Cancer Research and Prevention Institute, and its work shouldn't be limited by the Legislature before it begins.

Ogden's rider would handcuff some top doctors and scientists researching cancer and other diseases in Texas if state money cannot be used in conjunction with or to support research that involves the destruction of a human embryo.

Ogden's point in the rider and in his bill is to prevent any research with embryonic stem cells that might result from Obama's decision to end the ban on federal funding. But imposing his personal opposition to embryonic stem cell inquiry on the entire state puts Texas at a terrible disadvantage. Research will go on, in other states and other nations, and Texas will surely miss out on the medical and financial benefits that ensue if it bans all such research.

We understand the senator's objection to experimentation with embryonic stem cells. It is a moral issue for millions of Americans who equate embryos with human life. But those embryos are destined for destruction anyway, and it only makes sense to research the possibility that they could save lives and end tragic suffering.

Democratic state Sen. Kirk Watson of Austin said if Ogden's language isn't removed, it could sink the entire budget bill. He's absolutely right that this very personal point of view does not belong in the budget document.

Another item that doesn't belong in the state budget bill is the effort by Sens. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, and Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, to cut millions of dollars in state funding from Planned Parenthood's clinics. In some areas of Texas, Planned Parenthood is the only place women can get pap smears, cancer screening and family planning information.

Deuell and Williams want to defund Planned Parenthood because some of its clinics offer abortions, though only with private money. In Texas, state money cannot be used for abortions.

Ogden pulled their rider from the budget bill last week, as he should have. The budget is no place for religious convictions or political posturing. Sadly, we've seen far too much of that in the state Senate this session.