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New York Daily News - Online Edition Stem-Cell Funds Are Truly Pro-Life by MICHAEL KRAMER I had hoped President Bush would see the light and do the right thing, but it appears that he hasn't and won't. The issue this time is a likely White House decision to revoke guidelines, set by the Clinton administration last fall, that allow federal funding of biomedical research using cells from human embryos. Stem cells, as they're called, are usually harvested from embryos discarded during in-vitro fertilization, the process that allows women to have babies when they otherwise couldn't. This is no minor controversy. Scientists are excited about using stem cells to help cure such crippling diseases as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, juvenile diabetes, cancer, spinal-cord injuries and a variety of cancers and heart afflictions. The lives — and the quality of life — of literally millions of Americans hang in the balance. As Bush considers whether to continue the Clinton regulations — a decision is expected before mid-July, when he visits the Vatican on a trip to Italy for the annual economic summit of major industrialized nations — the President is being lobbied by two sets of competing advisers. On one side is a group of White House assistants who fear alienating anti-abortion conservatives who consider the use of stem cells immoral because, they say, using them encourages abortion. The Personal vs. the Political The prime voice opposing the research is Karl Rove, the President's top political operative, and Rove's view is reported to be having the greatest impact on Bush's thinking, because it tracks the President's own personal view. "I oppose federal funding for stem-cell research that involves destroying living human embryos," Bush recently wrote in a letter to an anti-abortion group. The counter argument is being pushed hardest by Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson (himself a pro-life Republican) who favors continuing the federal funding because of the research's proven medical promise. Among those standing with Thompson is Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, a rare abortion-rights Republican, who says "it's different, having an embryo in a dish and having one in a woman's womb." "Having an embryo in a woman's womb is having a life," Specter says. "In a dish, it's just going to be discarded" anyway — a reference to the embryos trashed as a by-product of the in-vitro fertilization process. Specter's abortion-rights stance makes his favorable position on stem-cell research predictable. More important are the views of others who oppose abortion but who nonetheless support funding the research. Funding Keeps Guidelines in Place Two of the most eloquent of these proponents are Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah and Connie Mack, a former GOP senator from Florida. In a recent letter to the White House, Hatch called stem-cell research "consistent with bedrock pro-family, pro-life values," adding that the ethical issues raised by the anti-abortion forces are "fundamentally different" from those involving abortion. "As both a cancer survivor and a pro-life Catholic," Mack wrote last week, "I have struggled with [this] issue. Yet, after weighing the facts and the moral issues, I'm convinced the right choice is clear. I hope the President allows federal support to continue for this vital research." Noting that the National Institutes of Health have adopted "strict guidelines under which scientists must operate," Mack argued that ending federal funding would "cut off almost all federal controls." But "with federal guidelines in place," he said, "scientists are likely to adhere" to the standards and help guard against the possibility of women having abortions simply to profit from selling the embryos produced. Mack also pointed to several surveys "in which even pro-life groups including Catholics (72%), fundamentalist Christians (63%) and abortion opponents (57%)" favor stem-cell research despite their opposition to abortion. There's still time for Bush to reverse course, and therefore still hope that he'll side with science over politics. And, as the polls Mack cites suggest, this time, doing the right thing may also be smart politically. Original Publication Date: 6/24/01 http://www.nydailynews.com/2001-06-24/News_and_Views/Beyond_the_City/a-115995.asp * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn