President Obama approved a temporary spending bill this week that averted a government shutdown but also riled a slew of groups that say one provision protects Monsanto and other makers of genetically modified seeds and crops from federal courts.
The so-called Monsanto Protection Act essentially requires the Agriculture Department to approve the growing, harvesting and selling of such crops, even if the courts rule environmental studies are incomplete -- undermining the judicial review system and posing potential health risks, critics say.
The biotech rider was included in spending bill HR 933 and signed Tuesday by Obama, despite White House protests and at least two petitions, including one by the group Food Democracy Now that got more than 250,000 signatures.
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