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from: Houston Chronicle ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- HoustonChronicle.com -- Section: National http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/2698350#top July 24, 2004, 10:18PM Reeve tireless in stem cell research fight Activist decries role religion plays in science laws By MARK SCHLEIFSTEIN New Orleans Times-Picayune NEW ORLEANS - On first encounter, there is an otherworldliness to Christopher Reeve: the hairless head braced rigidly against the back of his wheelchair and angled slightly toward the ceiling; the powerful, heaving chest offset by delicately lifeless hands and legs; the endless gasping of the respirator that pipes air through a hole in his throat. Then he begins to speak — in long, lucid sentences edged by passion and, now and again, righteous anger — and there is nothing at all unworldly about Christopher Reeve. "I'm frustrated by people who take positions that just don't seem logical," Reeve said last week during a break from directing a movie in New Orleans about a young woman who suffered a spinal cord injury similar to his. Nine years after a horseback riding accident left Reeve paralyzed from the neck down, he is at war — with the limits imposed on him by his disability, and with President Bush and religious groups' campaign to ban access to what he considers one of medical science's most promising frontiers: stem cell research. "Opponents of embryo stem cell research often say that it's immoral to destroy an embryo to extract stem cells," he said. "Yet, if you ask them what's their opinion on in vitro fertilization clinics, I haven't heard anybody object. "In those clinics on a daily basis, across the country, thousands — if not more — fertilized embryos are thrown away routinely as medical waste or put in storage and frozen for a while to create a potential sibling," he said. "But at least half of the embryos are just thrown away. "It would seem logical to me, if you truly oppose the destruction of embryos, that you would want to introduce legislation to shut down in vitro fertilization clinics," Reeve said. "But I doubt any politician who wants to get re-elected would do that." In 2001, President Bush ordered that federal financing be allowed for stem cell research only using cells grown from human embryos that had been destroyed before Aug. 9, 2001. The Roman Catholic Church has made it clear that its doctrine prohibits all such research. But opposition to the ban has been growing. Reeve's tireless advocacy is one reason. Nancy Reagan is another. Having discovered the promise of stem cell research in possibly fighting Alzheimer's disease, which killed her husband, Ronald Reagan, she speaks out urgently on the need to pursue it. Best known for his movie role as Superman, Reeve has fought back from his accident. His return to filmmaking is a victory, and so is his emergence as a national leader in paralysis research. The Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation provides millions of dollars in grants each year for research and quality-of-life purposes. Reeve is especially critical of Bush's reliance on religion in making decisions involving science and technology, saying the Constitution prohibits it. Among his criticisms is that Bush sought the opinion of Pope John Paul II before making his 2001 decision to limit stem cell research. "Frankly, when we're having a debate about scientific research, I think everybody should be heard, every religious group, every academic group, ethicists, theologians, patients, everyone," Reeve said. "But when it comes time to make the decision, religion should not have a seat at the table. That's what the Constitution says." It dismays Reeve to see his country losing its scientific edge to countries that support stem cell research, such as England, Israel, Australia and Portugal. Reeve said he doesn't expect his own medical condition to be directly alleviated by embryonic stem cell research. "I think the problems it will do the most to help with are diabetes and Parkinson's disease, because in those cases you're asking the stem cells to become a chemical, either insulin or dopamine, rather than becoming new tissue," he said. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn