Christian groups in the US are criticizing a new bill that would allow for greater federal funding of embryonic stem cell research as wasting tax dollars on "bad science" that is also unethical.

"This over-hyped research would drag money and attention away from what patients really need - ethical treatments that work," complained Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America, in a released statement.

Opponents of the bill sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev) have argued that not only is research using embryonic stem cells unethical because it destroys embryos in the extraction process, but it also fails to show the breakthrough results promised by supporters after decades of research.

"What makes S.5 (Reid's bill) even more troubling is the fact that embryonic stem cell research is such 'bad science,'" said the Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition, in a statement. "The overwhelming body of evidence has indicated that stem cells derived from sources other than embryos have shown far more promise."