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President Bush Waffles





Last night George W. Bush had one of those rare opportunities a
president gets to take a bold step that might define his
administration. Instead, he ducked.

 In a national television address, the president said he was
supporting federal funding for stem cell research. But he added
restrictions so rigid that they may constitute a near-ban.

 After a long prelude, describing his moral debate over a decision
and all the terrible diseases that stem cell research might help
cure, Mr. Bush endorsed federally funded research only in cases
where the cells were extracted from human embryos in the past and
made to grow their own colonies, or lines. There is a very limited
number of lines of these cells, not enough to provide the diversity
scientists need. Furthermore, the existing lines are not
necessarily immortal. Scientists believe that some may eventually
stop providing stem cells and need to be replaced.

 By limiting the federal role so severely, Mr. Bush will hamper the
government's ability to spur this important new area of medical
research. Scientists hope to be able to coax stem cells to evolve
into replicas of cells needed to repair diseased or damaged tissue.
For example, someday they may be able to create new connections in
spinal cords and regenerate brain activity in Alzheimer's patients.

 To get the stem cells, the scientists must extract them from
blastocysts -- early-stage embryos, just a few days old. In the
past, most of these blastocysts were acquired from fertility
clinics, which would otherwise destroy them. Lately, researchers
have begun to create their own embryos, a procedure Mr. Bush also
opposes.

 Most people might have trouble seeing a tiny clump of cells in a
petri dish as a human being. But some abortion opponents do, and
they have argued that the thousands of excess embryos created by
fertility clinics every year should be protected and "adopted" by
childless couples. They deserve respect for their beliefs. But they
should not be allowed to dictate public policy, especially in an
area where the health of so many people might be in the balance. As
supporters of the stem cell research keep pointing out, there is
more than one way to be pro-life.

 During the presidential campaign, Mr. Bush appeared to be opposed
to federal funding for any stem cell research. But now, with polls
showing strong public support for the research, he is trying to
have it both ways, permitting the experiments but not the
extraction process that is needed to acquire the cells.

 President Clinton also tried to draw a distinction between doing
the research and obtaining the stem cells.

But Mr. Clinton was trying to get around a Congressional ban on
stem cell research. Mr. Bush is unlikely to have that problem.
Congress seems to be in a much different mood this year, led by
legislators whose relatives are suffering from diseases that stem
cells might someday help cure. The Senate majority leader, Tom
Daschle, said yesterday that there was strong bipartisan support in
the Senate for legislation to provide federal funding if the
president failed to do so.

 In his televised address, President Bush almost seemed to be
teasing the audience with a long opening disquisition on the pros
and cons of every aspect of stem cell research without revealing
which way he had decided to go.

Disappointed Americans who had hoped for a more courageous
conclusion may wind up wondering if his real concern was a
perpetual fear of offending the Republican Party's right-wing base.

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/10/opinion/10FRI1.html?ex=998480401&ei=1&en=818fae5457b75adc

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