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The Chicago Tribune Bush in bind over research on stem cells White House, GOP divided on funding By Bob Kemper Washington Bureau July 8, 2001 WASHINGTON -- As America's first chief executive with an MBA degree, President Bush portrays his corporate approach to governing as a virtue. Presidents espouse core principles and lead, Bush has said. Staff members work out the details. But as Bush faces one of the most morally and politically volatile decisions of his young administration--whether to provide federal funding for research using cells taken from human embryos--the aides on whom he leans for advice disagree strongly over how to proceed. Inside the administration, both proponents of the research, including Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, and opponents, led by Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, have been lobbying the president, pushing him to make a quick decision although no formal deadline looms. Bush's delay in taking a stand reflects the divisive nature of embryonic stem cell research and the difficulty of gauging its political ramifications. Many people equate support for the practice with support for abortion, while others base their views on their experiences with juvenile diabetes, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other diseases that may one day be cured because of the research. "Unlike tax cuts, in which there is a common denominator for Republicans, stem cell research is divisive," said Ross Baker, a political analyst from Rutgers University. Those tensions have only been exacerbated by Bush's political advisers, who view stem cell research as a crisis to be avoided, he said. In the absence of a presidential decision, Republicans are at war with themselves. Moderates, joined by some conservatives, argue that it is possible to oppose abortion and support embryonic stem cell research. But many conservatives are questioning Bush's stated opposition to abortion and whether his hands-off style is undercutting his effectiveness to lead on what for them are moral issues. "If the administration has a weakness to date, it would be that it sometimes appears inept in making the case on very important policy matters," said conservative Gary Bauer of the group American Values, who briefly opposed Bush in last year's Republican presidential primaries. "It obviously would help if the president felt comfortable going into details about more of these things," said Bauer, who urged Bush to ban funding of embryonic stem cell research. Stem cells are the basic building blocks of tissue in the body and can be manipulated to produce cells of bone, organs, muscles or skin, which then are used for further research. They can be taken either from embryos or adults, though embryonic cells are much more controversial because the embryo is destroyed in the process. Benefits touted Administration officials who favor stem cell research cite its potential for discovering treatments for many debilitating diseases. They also see an opportunity for Bush to move toward the political middle at a time when his standing in public opinion polls has slumped, partly because many Americans view him as too conservative. Opponents are concerned that by approving the research, Bush would alienate his conservative base, particularly Roman Catholics and anti-abortion Republicans who Rove sees as crucial to a second Bush term. Lawmakers and anti-abortion groups have added to the pressure on Bush by casting the scientific debate as a litmus test on abortion, arguing that destroying the embryos to get the cells is tantamount to abortion. Scientists, meanwhile, rue the politicization of the debate over funding they say is critical. Eighty American Nobel Prize winners and hundreds of other scientists, colleges and universities, patient advocates and doctors groups, including the American Medical Association, have written to Thompson and Bush urging them to approve the funding. Bush will say only that he will decide "in a while" whether to fund the stem cell research through the National Institutes of Health. "There are no timetables," he said recently. His aides disagree even on that point. Bush is scheduled to meet with Pope John Paul II on July 23, and some in the administration are pushing for a decision as far ahead of that visit as possible so stem cell research does not become a topic of discussion in Rome. The pontiff has said embryonic research is not morally acceptable. Call for cautious consideration Others argue that Bush should not rush a decision on an issue of such critical scientific and political significance. Rep. Connie Morella (R-Md.), a moderate who is prepared to introduce legislation calling for the funding of embryonic cell research if Bush fails to do so, said Bush "is simply trying to proceed cautiously because of his various constituencies." "I think he wants to develop leadership on this issue," Morella said. "It really rests with him." Many conservatives question why Bush is even deliberating whether to finance embryonic stem cell research, because he has suggested consistently to groups and individuals since the campaign that he would not support such funding. In November 2000, Bush wrote to supporters assuring them that "I oppose federal funding for stem cell research that involves destroying living human embryos." Instead, Bush said, he favors "promising research on stem cells from adult tissues." He said very much the same thing in May in a letter to The Culture of Life Foundation, an anti-abortion group. But White House spokesman Ari Fleischer says Bush has not made up his mind. "He is well aware of the powerful research that can come from stem cells," Fleischer said recently. "He also is cognizant of the fact that life should not be destroyed to save or to make another life." Stem cells were first taken from aborted fetuses and unused embryos at fertilization clinics and multiplied in 1998 by groups of doctors funded by the private Geron Inc. They proved much more versatile than adult stem cells in some situations, such as growing into nerve and brain cells, offering hope of fighting diseases such as Alzheimer's, researchers said. Scientists such as Margaret Goodell, a leading stem cell researcher at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, argue that adult stem cells are no substitute for embryonic cells. The two types of cells behave differently in various circumstances, and many researchers are urging Bush and Congress to finance both types of research to ensure the greatest benefit. `Comes down to moral view' "Unfortunately, this has all just led to a lot of hype," Goodell said. Despite the scientific arguments in favor of embryonic cell research, "it all comes down to your moral view of what an embryo is and whether it is ever all right to sacrifice it." A 1995 law prohibited federal funding to create human embryos "for research purposes" or for research in which an embryo was destroyed, discarded or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death. Four years later, the Clinton administration declared that stem cells are not embryos and the National Institutes of Health issued new guidelines allowing federally funded researchers to use days-old embryonic cells harvested by private institutions. Bush now is trying to decide whether to rewrite those guidelines. The White House has hinted interest in several options, including one that would allow embryonic cells already in laboratories to continue to be used for research. It would ban, however, the harvesting of any new embryonic cells. The administration and some on Capitol Hill also have advocated greater funding for adult stem cell research so it could advance at a faster pace, which in their view would make embryonic cells unnecessary. Most of the House Republican leadership--Majority Leader Dick Armey, Majority Whip Tom DeLay and Conference Chairman J.C. Watts--have written to Bush arguing against embryonic cell research. "It is not pro-life to rely on an industry of death, even if the intention is to find cures for diseases," the leaders wrote. But some anti-abortion lawmakers, including Sens. Orrin Hatch of Utah, Strom Thurmond of South Carolina and Minority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi, have argued that given the potentially lifesaving benefits of such research, support for the use of stem cells is "consistent with bedrock pro-life and pro-family values." "[Bush is] in a terrible position," said Rep. Amo Houghton (R-N.Y.), founder of the moderate Republican Main Street Partnership in Congress. "I think he wants to do the right thing, but he gets a lot of voices talking to him in the White House." http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/article/0,2669,1-0107080378,FF.html * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn