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Virtual New York - UPI Key Bush ally supports stem-cell research Wednesday, 18 July 2001 17:28 (ET) By P. MITCHELL PROTHERO WASHINGTON, July 18 (UPI) - The Senate's only surgeon, Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., Wednesday said that he supports the federal funding of embryonic and adult stem-cell research, but also objected to creating embryos for such research. Considered President Bush's closest ally and adviser in the Senate, Frist's announcement was seen by Senate Republicans as a bellwether for the administration's own policy. Bush was grappling with the question of whether to allow federal funding for such research, and several key Republican aides said that Frist's decision and principles would be seen as a trial balloon on behalf of the president. Recognizing the complexity of the issue, which involves the use of stem cells harvested from frozen fetuses to treat disease and injury, Frist said such research needed strict federal controls. "The issue of whether or not to use stem cells for medical research involves deeply held moral, religious and ethical beliefs, as well as scientific and medical considerations," he testified to the Senate Appropriations Committee. "After grappling with the issue scientifically ethically and morally, I conclude that both embryonic and adult stem-cell research should be federally funded within a carefully regulated, fully transparent framework." One Republican Senate staffer said the move was a conservative one by the administration to test reaction to the proposal without taking major political risk. The aide called Frist "the administration's top man on this issue. He's not releasing a series of guidelines without talking to the president about it." However, Scott McClellan, deputy White House press secretary, denied an official decision by the president to float stem cell policy through Frist. "This is not a White House policy," he said. "The president is approaching the issue in a thoughtful and deliberate way. And he will make his own decision on this tough issue." But one Republican Senate aide said that Frist's move would help Bush make this decision. "Bush is struggling between allowing regulated use of embryo cells for research, or limiting research to stem cells from adults only," the senior aide said. "Frist has sent up a trial balloon on embryo research. If the outcry is bad over it, then Bush is free to go ahead and only allow the work with adults." Frist's office confirmed that the two frequently discuss the issue. McClellan said he did not know if Bush had seen the guidelines before they were released. In the guidelines, Frist proposed banning the creation of embryos for research purposes, continue the federal ban on the derivation of embryonic stem cells, and an outright ban on human cloning. Other principles included allowing the use of only those embryos that would be discarded otherwise, rigorous consent procedures for parents of such embryos, on-going independent and scientific peer review of experiments and a strong public oversight mechanism to prevent abuses of the guidelines. -- SOURCE: Virtual New York - UPI http://www.vny.com/cf/News/upidetail.cfm?QID=203730 * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn