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This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by [log in to unmask] FYI /-------------------- advertisement -----------------------\ Let NYTimes.com Come to You Sign up for one of our weekly e-mails and the news will come directly to you. YOUR MONEY brings you a wealth of analysis and information about personal investing. CIRCUITS plugs you into the latest on personal technology. TRAVEL DISPATCH offers you a jump on special travel deals and news. http://email.nytimes.com/email/email.jsp?eta5 \----------------------------------------------------------/ President Bush Waffles Last night George W. Bush had one of those rare opportunities a president gets to take a bold step that might define his administration. Instead, he ducked. In a national television address, the president said he was supporting federal funding for stem cell research. But he added restrictions so rigid that they may constitute a near-ban. After a long prelude, describing his moral debate over a decision and all the terrible diseases that stem cell research might help cure, Mr. Bush endorsed federally funded research only in cases where the cells were extracted from human embryos in the past and made to grow their own colonies, or lines. There is a very limited number of lines of these cells, not enough to provide the diversity scientists need. Furthermore, the existing lines are not necessarily immortal. Scientists believe that some may eventually stop providing stem cells and need to be replaced. By limiting the federal role so severely, Mr. Bush will hamper the government's ability to spur this important new area of medical research. Scientists hope to be able to coax stem cells to evolve into replicas of cells needed to repair diseased or damaged tissue. For example, someday they may be able to create new connections in spinal cords and regenerate brain activity in Alzheimer's patients. To get the stem cells, the scientists must extract them from blastocysts -- early-stage embryos, just a few days old. In the past, most of these blastocysts were acquired from fertility clinics, which would otherwise destroy them. Lately, researchers have begun to create their own embryos, a procedure Mr. Bush also opposes. Most people might have trouble seeing a tiny clump of cells in a petri dish as a human being. But some abortion opponents do, and they have argued that the thousands of excess embryos created by fertility clinics every year should be protected and "adopted" by childless couples. They deserve respect for their beliefs. But they should not be allowed to dictate public policy, especially in an area where the health of so many people might be in the balance. As supporters of the stem cell research keep pointing out, there is more than one way to be pro-life. During the presidential campaign, Mr. Bush appeared to be opposed to federal funding for any stem cell research. But now, with polls showing strong public support for the research, he is trying to have it both ways, permitting the experiments but not the extraction process that is needed to acquire the cells. President Clinton also tried to draw a distinction between doing the research and obtaining the stem cells. But Mr. Clinton was trying to get around a Congressional ban on stem cell research. Mr. Bush is unlikely to have that problem. Congress seems to be in a much different mood this year, led by legislators whose relatives are suffering from diseases that stem cells might someday help cure. The Senate majority leader, Tom Daschle, said yesterday that there was strong bipartisan support in the Senate for legislation to provide federal funding if the president failed to do so. In his televised address, President Bush almost seemed to be teasing the audience with a long opening disquisition on the pros and cons of every aspect of stem cell research without revealing which way he had decided to go. Disappointed Americans who had hoped for a more courageous conclusion may wind up wondering if his real concern was a perpetual fear of offending the Republican Party's right-wing base. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/10/opinion/10FRI1.html?ex=998480401&ei=1&en=818fae5457b75adc /-----------------------------------------------------------------\ Visit NYTimes.com for complete access to the most authoritative news coverage on the Web, updated throughout the day. Become a member today! 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