Calif. Stem Cell Initiative Could Backfire Nationally
By Ceci Connolly
Washington Post Staff Writer

Sunday, November 14, 2004; Page A15

The resounding victory of California's $3 billion ballot initiative
for embryonic stem cell studies may have the unintended consequence
of slowing research on the national level and creating a backlash
from religious conservatives who feel emboldened by President Bush's
reelection, say activists on both sides of the issue.

With the support of Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger,
Californians approved the bond proposal 59 percent to 41 percent,
paving the way for a 10-year project that aims to make the state a
global leader in the controversial new field.

Already, the initiative is upending the biomedical industry,
prompting some entrepreneurial scientists to relocate from other
states and several California universities to draw up blueprints for
new laboratories. But the measure has reinvigorated a battle in
Washington over the government's role in science, the meaning of this
year's election results and the question of when life begins.

"California putting such an extravagant amount of money into
embryonic stem cells and cloning research really takes the wind out
of the argument there needs to be federal funding," said Wendy
Wright, senior policy director of Concerned Women for America, a
conservative advocacy group that opposes the research. "Moral values
was a strong premise for many people's vote, and that should give
congressmen pause to look at the public policies they're backing and
assess them against moral values."

In the Senate, where Republicans picked up four seats, Sen. Sam
Brownback (R-Kan.) is considering expanding his legislation banning
human cloning to include a prohibition on research that mixes genetic
material from humans and animals. The bill as currently written
outlaws a laboratory process in which cloned embryos are made in a
petri dish. Scientists say the process, called somatic cell nuclear
transfer (or therapeutic cloning), is a great potential source of
embryonic stem cells.

"It seems that most of the country agrees with John Kerry that life
begins at conception," Brownback said in an interview. "If that's the
vast middle swath of the country, then it seems we should be able to
move something like this through." And as they have on issues such as
gun control and same-sex marriage, he thinks Democrats may retreat
from the most liberal positions related to stem cell science, such as
allowing therapeutic cloning.

One vote-counting stem cell advocate said proponents lost at least
three prominent backers in the Senate. The source, who feared
retribution if named, expects Bush to "cater" to the religious right.
"They put him in office." He fears the California program "will be a
big excuse for the president to not even have to deal with this."

Under Proposition 71, California researchers are eligible for $295
million a year in grants to work on cell colonies -- or lines --
taken from five-day-old human embryos. Scientists say embryonic stem
cells hold great promise for treating conditions such as juvenile
diabetes, Parkinson's disease and spinal cord injuries, because the
cells can morph into virtually any type of tissue or cell.

Opponents say the work is akin to murder because extracting the stem
cells kills the embryo. In August 2001, Bush struck a compromise,
announcing he would allow federal funding for research on the limited
number of cell lines that existed then. Researchers and patient
groups have been frustrated by those restrictions, saying the 20-plus
available lines and $24 million in federal grants have not been
sufficient.

Led by a real estate developer whose son has Type 1 diabetes, an
eclectic coalition of patients, Hollywood celebrities, Nobel Prize
winners and venture capitalists bankrolled the California initiative,
raising almost as much money as the total federal investment in
embryonic stem cell research.

In Massachusetts, Robert Lanza, medical director of Advanced Cell
Technology, said the measure will "usher in a new era" of medical
breakthroughs that will benefit not only Californians "but all
Americans." The company, which conducted some of the earliest efforts
to retrieve stem cells from normal and cloned human embryos, has sent
its CEO to the West Coast to scout possible laboratory sites.

Much of the debate over the broader implications of Proposition 71
stems from two dramatically different interpretations of this year's
election results.

Pointing to national surveys that registered 70 percent support for
stem cell research and the fact that Proposition 71 drew almost
300,000 more votes in California than Democratic nominee Kerry,
advocates say the president's policy is out of step with most
Americans, including many Republicans.

"People in the Bush administration know what worked for them this
year and what didn't," said Daniel Perry, head of the Coalition for
the Advancement of Medical Research, which promotes stem cell
science. "They understand stem cell research was appealing to people
at a very profound and fundamental level -- the level of hope."

Rep. Michael N. Castle (Del.), president of the Republican Main
Street Partnership, said the overwhelming victory in "the most
significant state in the country, with a Republican governor
endorsing it, is very hard to ignore." He said 190 House members have
endorsed his bill expanding federal funding to research on stem cells
obtained from "spare" embryos at fertility clinics, if donors give
written consent and do not receive a financial inducement.

Last summer, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), a
physician, said he thought the Bush policy should be revisited after
Election Day. The implication, according to Castle and others, was
that Frist hoped to broaden it. Now Frist is not certain that would
be possible in the new, more Republican Senate, said one adviser who
could not be quoted discussing internal deliberations.

"The fulcrum of the center has moved to the right," this aide said,
making it hard "for people who want to expand the president's
policy."

Weighing on Frist is the potency of the stem cell issue with the GOP
base, his adviser said. "We've been surprised by the fervor. It
almost rivals abortion."

Many conservatives argue that California does not represent
mainstream America and that the authors of Prop 71 overstepped by
allowing state funding of therapeutic cloning.

"This means California will become a center for human cloning
research, and I don't think most voters realized that," said Richard
M. Doerflinger, deputy director for pro-life activities at the U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops.

"It will invite retaliatory action by people like Senator Brownback,
who wanted to criminalize all types of research," said H. Rex Greene,
a San Mateo physician who opposed Prop 71. "That's what these guys
invited when they took such an extreme position." Brownback's cloning
ban would make it a crime for patients treated outside the United
States with therapies derived from embryonic stem cells to reenter.

Doerflinger said the bishops' conference may revive its campaign to
pressure undecided lawmakers to support the Brownback bill, which he
said may have a majority of Senate votes but perhaps not a filibuster-
proof 60 votes.

At a minimum, conservatives expressed confidence they will be able to
curtail federal spending on embryonic stem cells by arguing that at a
time of growing deficits it is unnecessary to duplicate California's
massive investment.

Carl Feldbaum, president of the pro-research Biotechnology Industry
Organization, said he does not expect the political wars to cease
until there is a "demonstrable success" in the laboratory. "People
are claiming it's unproven and may not work," he said. "The research
will have to debunk that."

SOURCE: Washington Post, DC
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48184-2004Nov13.html

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