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Sunday, July 8, 2001 Bush in quandary over stem cells Patients benefiting from the research would be happy, but it could hurt the president with the Catholic Church By Aaron Zitner LOS ANGELES TIMES WASHINGTON -- In a development that could help President Bush navigate one of the thorniest issues of his administration, several leading conservative Catholic intellectuals have told the White House they are open to a plan that would allow the government to fund certain medical experiments that use stem cells from human embryos. Bush has said he will decide soon on whether to fund embryo-cell research, which many scientists believe will lead to new treatments for a range of diseases. By backing the research, Bush might win favor with millions of patients. But he would anger anti-abortion groups and most Catholic leaders, who have said there is no scenario in which government funding for the research would be morally acceptable. The issue is especially tricky for Bush, because his chief political strategist believes Catholic voters will play a pivotal role in the next presidential election. Choosing between medical patients and abortion opponents puts Bush "in a no-win situation," said Gov. Tom Ridge, R-Pa. Now, however, three conservative Catholics who advise the White House are saying a compromise may be possible. Depending on how the details shape up, these opinion leaders may publicly offer arguments for why some funding of embryo experiments is morally acceptable, and help Bush win support for the policy among Catholic leaders and voters. The Catholic advisers are focusing in particular on one option, now under discussion among White House aides, in which the government would pay only for research that used existing stem cells that scientists have already isolated from embryos. Any experiment that caused the destruction of additional embryos to obtain new cells would be ineligible for federal funds. Spokesmen for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which represents the church in the United States, have specifically rejected this idea, saying it would make the government complicit in embryo destruction. But one of the nation's leading Catholic thinkers on abortion issues is now offering a different view. "I can imagine circumstances in which this would not only be politically acceptable, but could be a morally justified policy," said Robert George, a moral philosopher at Princeton University, who participates in a weekly, Thursday morning telephone conference of Catholic intellectuals that often includes White House staff. While the compromise would be "a victory for those who want to use embryonic stem cells, it can also be seen as a victory for the pro-life side," Hudson said, "because it ensures, for the time being, that there is no more government support for the destruction of embryos for their stem cells." If Bush moves in any way to support embryo-cell research, it will be crucial to win the support of at least some conservative Catholic leaders, George said. First isolated in 1998, embryonic stem cells have drawn wide interest because they can give rise to any other tissue in the body -- nerve cells, heart muscle, insulin-producing cells and the like. Scientists hope to use the cells to grow replacement tissue for people with heart disease, diabetes, muscular dystrophy and an array of other ailments. The National Institutes of Health last year moved to start the first-ever federal funding for stem cell research. The cells were to come from embryos donated by patients at fertility clinics. These patients commonly make more embryos than they will use in any one attempt at producing a child. The patients usually discard the extras or freeze them for a future attempt at pregnancy, but hundreds, if not thousands, of embryos have wound up frozen indefinitely in fertility clinic storage tanks. The Bush administration put the NIH funding plan on hold this year until it could review the policy. It is unclear when Bush will announce a decision. There is no federal prohibition on using private funds to obtain or work with embryo cells, and several groups have produced embryonic stem cells using private money. It is these cells that would be used under the potential compromise. The compromise is one of several floated in recent weeks by Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, the major proponent of embryo-cell research in the administration, people familiar with the discussions say. These people say that Bush's top political strategist, Karl Rove, had argued vigorously in recent weeks against funding any embryo-cell research, but Rove's current opinion is unclear. Under a second compromise under discussion at the White House, the government would give money to private groups for nonembryo research. The groups would then be able to divert their own money to embryo experiments. http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/politics/stories/lstem_20010708.htm * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn