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Plea for (HESC) Research Deserves Granting Myrtle Beach Sun News, SC - May 14, 2004 Just say yes. That's the challenge Nancy Reagan made to the Bush administration Saturday. Now let's hope it accepts. The former first lady was addressing a Hollywood gala for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. The subject was stem cells - primordial cells scientists can tweak to become any of a range of different cells, such as liver, bone or nerve. Scientists believe stem-cell research holds great benefits in treating diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Problem: So far, the most dependable sources of stem cells have been human embryos, most of them left over from couples' attempts at in-vitro fertilization. The ethical dilemmas therein nearly led Bush to forbid federal funding to scientists or institutions that do stem-cell research. The White House eventually OK'd research on selected lines of cells - except most of those turned out to be bogus or unusable. It was another in a series of Bush missteps with the scientific community. Ronald Reagan is dying of Alzheimer's. His wife told the Hollywood gala, heartbreakingly and bravely, "Ronnie's long journey has finally taken him to a distant place where I can no longer reach him. Because of this, I'm determined to do whatever I can to save other families from this pain." Hers is the most powerful case for funding stem-cell research: compassion. Nobody wants to treat human embryos with anything but respect. But the horror and suffering of neurodegenerative disease are important counterweights to ethical objections. And so Nancy Reagan bravely made the best case - a conservative case in the great American tradition - for an enlightened policy not driven by narrow interest-group politics. She also gave Bush ideal political cover to amend a backward, harmful policy, a waste of time that has hobbled American science and industry. Indeed, many conservatives now see they cannot allow loyalty to a particularly religious view to waylay a wiser approach. Last month, 206 members of the House of Representatives, including some big conservatives, sent a letter to the president pleading for a change. A similar letter has surfaced in the Senate. Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., who talked Bush out of an all-out ban, is said to favor liberalizing the policy further. This week, leaders in Congress are slated to meet on Capitol Hill with Kristin Lee Silverberg, the president's special assistant on stem cells. And pressure mounts from the all-important business side, as nervous drug companies lobby for their interests. The Hollywood dinner raised $2 million - some of it put up by high-profile stars such as Michael J. Fox (who has Parkinson's disease), Dustin Hoffman and Larry King. The money will be part of a $20 million fund for stem-cell research in the United States. Fox heads a foundation that has raised $10 million for Parkinson's research. Big yeses. But is the biggest yet to come? The president should hear Nancy Reagan's plea. Pain made her speak out. She has lost her husband and now awaits only his passing - but others need not know such agony. She is asking, on their behalf, for the biggest yes yet. Just say it. SOURCE: The Philadelphia Inquirer / Myrtle Beach Sun News, SC - May 14, 2004 http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/sunnews/news/opinion/8664707.htm * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn