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On the Issues
Stem Cell Research
I believe that stem cell research holds great promise for medical breakthroughs that could help treat and cure terrible diseases such as multiple sclerosis, cancer, Parkinson's, and diabetes. This potential provides a morally compelling argument in favor of such research, assuming safeguards remain in place against trafficking in fetal cells and reproductive cloning. Embryonic stem cells are considered uniquely promising for medical research because they have the ability to morph into almost any type of cell in the human body.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued regulations in 2000 to allow federally-sponsored research on stem cells under carefully controlled conditions. Unfortunately, President Bush took a huge step backward the next year when he imposed a different policy that simply attempted to “split the difference” politically and lacked any clear scientific or moral grounding. Under the President’s policy, federal funding for stem cell research was limited to only those stem cell lines in the NIH Human Embryonic Stem Cell Registry on August 9, 2001. Although the registry contained 78 cell lines at that time, a maximum of 23 are considered viable for research purposes.
Last year, Congress passed legislation (S. 5) to authorize the use of federal funding for research related to embryonic stem cells. The bill also would require the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop techniques for the isolation, derivation, production, or testing of stem cells that are not derived from the creation or destruction of a human embryo. I voted in favor of this bill, but it was vetoed by President Bush.
In addition, the House has passed legislation (H.R. 3, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act), to permit federal support for research on stem cells derived from embryos only if they: 1) were created for fertility treatment, 2) were no longer needed by the individuals seeking such treatment and were slated for destruction, and 3) were freely donated by those individuals. I supported this bill as well and believe it strikes the right balance.
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