Bush Blocks Stem Cell Funding That Would Destroy Embryos

Using his first televised speech to the nation to underscore the importance of the issue, President George W. Bush announced that he would not allow federal funding of stem cell research that would cause human embryos to be destroyed.

In a thoughtful, eloquent 11-minute speech broadcast from his Texas ranch, President Bush said he believes "human life is a sacred gift from our creator. I worry about a culture that devalues life, and believe as your president I have an important obligation to foster and encourage respect for life in America and throughout the world."

President Bush's decision nullified the guidelines approved by former President Clinton that would have provided taxpayer funding for embryonic stem cell research that allowed the continual destruction of human embryos. President Bush had not allowed the Clinton regulations to go into effect while he studied the issue.

Much of the media and many in and out of Congress have argued that the government should underwrite research which would require the destruction of so-called "spare" embryos created but not implanted at fertility clinics, a position Mr. Bush flatly rejected.

"We commend President Bush's decision to prevent the federal government from becoming involved in research and experimentation that would require the deliberate destruction of human embryos," said NRLC Executive Director David N. O'Steen, Ph.D. "In taking this position, the President has acted to save the lives that he could."

President Bush said he would strictly limit federal funding to research on existing stem cell lines, which had already been privately derived from embryonic stem cells. In this case, the President said, "The life and death decision has already been made."

While NRLC did not favor federal funding of research involving existing embryonic stem cell lines, neither President Bush nor his administration had anything to do with the destruction of those embryos nor the establishment of these cell lines.

O'Steen said, "While we mourn the lives of those children that were killed to derive the sixty-plus stem cells lines that currently exist, there is nothing that we, as a pro-life community, or President Bush, can do to restore the lives of those children."

"Certainly, if the President could have prevented the deaths of those embryos, he would have," O'Steen said. "President Bush has shown his commitment to protecting the lives that he can."

In an op-ed he wrote for the August 12 New York Times, Mr. Bush said, "...it is unethical to end life in medical research..."

On August 13 President Bush told reporters that he would veto legislation that expanded federal funding of additional stem cell research (that would require the destruction of human embryos).

Legislation to fund stem cell research that would require the killing of human embryos has been introduced by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.). NRLC has vigorously opposed this legislation. (See Actions Requested, page 20.)

"Pro-lifers must unite in backing the President's opposition to such legislation," O'Steen said.

President Bush also said that he would appoint Leon Kass, an esteemed biomedical ethicist from the University of Chicago and an outspoken opponent of human cloning and assisted suicide, to head the President's Council on Bioethics to monitor the research.

Among those reacting positively to the President's decision was Dr. James Dobson, President of Focus on the Family. Dr. Dobson said, "I give the President's decision generally a thumb's up."

Dr. Pat Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition, said Mr. Bush's decision was "an elegant solution to the thorny issue of stem cell research by firmly protecting the rights of the unborn."

Pro-abortion groups reacted negatively. NARAL President Kate Michelman told reporters, "The President tonight offered a weak and limited compromise on stem cell research." Alluding to legislation such as the Specter bill, she added, "Americans must now turn to Congress for the support needed to continue this vital research."

National Abortion Federation President Vicki Saporta called the decision a "setback for the American people," adding Bush "has indicated his opposition to Roe v. Wade and a woman's right to choose safe abortion services; and now he has again sided with the extreme members of his party..."

In his August 9 nationally televised speech President Bush also reiterated his strong opposition both to cloning and to the creation of human embryos specifically for medical experimentation. Recent developments show that these are not just theoretical possibilities.

For example, in July, a Massachusetts firm, Advanced Cell Technology, announced that it will soon begin attempting to create cloned human embryos for the purpose of harvesting their stem cells or using them in other lethal research (a practice referred to by the bio-tech industry as "therapeutic cloning").

On July 31, the House of Representatives voted to ban all human cloning, including the creation of cloned embryos, 265-162. The legislation is now awaiting action in the Senate. President Bush has endorsed the bill. (See story, page one.)

"The Senate must act immediately to prevent the start-up of cloned human embryo farms in the United States," said NRLC Legislative Director Douglas Johnson.

Mr. Bush's decision will have no negative impact on research involving stem cells derived from sources such as adult fat, blood, and bone marrow, as well as placentas and umbilical cord blood. Adult stem cells have been shown to be dramatically more effective and have already been used to help patients. (See chart on page 33.)

And when given a clear choice, the public strongly favors using adult stem cells. According to a poll conducted June 1-5 by International Communications Research, 67% of those polled prefer having their tax dollars used for stem cell research " using adult stem cells and other alternatives..." Only 18% favor federal support for research that included experiments, which " require destroying human embryos."

Moreover, instead of destroying human embryos through medical research, they may be adopted by parents. Indeed, the demand for their adoption exceeds the number of embryos who could be adopted.