Back on trail, Elizabeth Edwards pushes stem-cell funding
Story Highlights
. Edwards calls for more federal funds for research, including on stem cells
. Edwards' speech was the first since announcing her cancer had returned
. Edwards is wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards
. Couple defended decision to continue campaigning in "60 Minutes" interview
CLEVELAND, Ohio (CNN) -- In her first public speech since announcing last
Thursday that her breast cancer had returned, Elizabeth Edwards appealed
Monday for more federal funding for health research of all kinds, including
stem-cell research.
"I think that we're foolhardy to not be engaging in federal funding of
stem-cell research in the most aggressive way we possibly can," the wife of
Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards of North Carolina told a
luncheon meeting of supporters at the City Club of Cleveland.
The reason the issue has become so controversial is largely because people
don't understand it, she said.
"If people think that you're throwing babies out, dissecting children, to do
stem-cell research, I'm not for that," said Edwards, who had accepted the
speaking invitation before receiving her diagnosis of Stage 4 metastatic
breast cancer.
Edwards was diagnosed with breast cancer at the end of the 2004 campaign and
underwent surgery and chemotherapy. But Thursday, the couple disclosed that
cancer had spread to her bones -- a condition doctors described as
incurable, but treatable. (Watch Elizabeth Edwards on her own out on the
campaign trail )
Edwards noted that stem-cell work uses blastocysts containing clumps of 16
or 32 cells that were collected by fertility clinics but are no longer
needed and would otherwise be thrown away.
"We're talking about using something to save ourselves and our children,"
she said. "Instead of throwing it away, don't we want to use it in a way
that's productive?"
Some opponents of the work believe that life begins at conception and that
using stem cells is tantamount to killing a human.
But Edwards said opponents will not be able to halt the work, whatever their
beliefs. "You're not going to stop it by saying there is no federal
funding," she said. "You're just going to stop it from happening here."
Edwards joked about the spike in attention from the news media since she
made her announcement, including an interview broadcast Sunday on CBS News'
"60 Minutes." (Watch the Edwardses defend their decision to continue
campaigning )
"I can't turn on the television without seeing me, or open the newspaper
without seeing me and, honestly, I'm sick to death of me," the lawyer said.
During the "60 Minutes" interview, the Edwardses defended their decision to
continue his White House bid, but the former senator said voters have
legitimate questions about the decision to keep running.
"I think every single candidate for president, Republican and Democratic,
have lives, personal lives, that indicate something about what kind of human
being they are. And I think it is a fair evaluation for America to engage
in, to look at what kind of human beings each of us are, and what kind of
president we'd make," Edwards, the party's 2004 vice-presidential nominee,
told CBS' Katie Couric.
Edwards said he and his wife decided together to go forward with his
campaign, and that he was in the race "for the duration."

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