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June 09, 2007 Web Tools: [print] [email] The Charleston Gazette: Hope Again, Congress has approved a plan to use leftover eggs in fertility clinics - medical waste destined to be discarded - as a source of stem cells that promise amazing cures for several agonizing diseases. Again, President Bush says he will veto this bill, as he did a previous one, on grounds that the fertilized eggs are "human life." Again, he is acting on behalf of fundamentalists who comprise a large segment of his Republican Party. We think Bush and his backers are being absurd. Microscopic cell clusters are not people, despite what some conservative preachers say. If the tiny embryos had souls, as the ministers allege, clinic operators could be charged with murder when they toss them out. The stem cell struggle shows how weird politics can become when mixed with narrow religion. Here's the background: Stem cells are rudimentary units that haven't yet differentiated into bone, skin, hair, nerve, muscle, cartilage or other tissue. They have a remarkable ability to become any type of cells they're placed among. Researchers hope to use them to grow healthy heart muscle in cardiac patients, healthy brain tissue in Alzheimer's sufferers, healthy pancreas tissue in diabetics, new spinal nerves in paraplegics, and the like. The best source of stem cells is from leftover fertilized eggs in clinics. The eggs must be opened to get the cells - and that's why some "pro-life" clergy protest that humans are being destroyed. Six years ago, their objections caused President Bush to limit federal research funding solely to old stem cell cultures previously in existence, but to ban it for newly extracted cells. Thursday, Democrats in Congress, backed by some Republicans, voted strongly to reverse Bush's ban and fund more research using excess clinic eggs. Passage of the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act was hailed by medical scientists as a boon to suffering people. The Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research, representing physician groups and university medical schools, said: "Now it is up to President Bush to do the right thing and sign this bill into law. ... More than 100 million Americans suffer from cancer, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, diabetes, spinal cord injuries and other debilitating diseases and disorders for which embryonic stem cell research holds great promise in finding new treatments and cures. Those individuals, along with their families, friends and caregivers now have a renewed sense of hope that there will one day be federal funding for embryonic stem cell research." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., urged Bush to put away his "cruel veto pen" and sign the bill that can "save lives, find cures, and give hope to those suffering." Rep. James Langevin, D-R.I., who was paralyzed by a gunshot, said from his wheelchair that he is "filled with tremendous hope, not only that stem cell research might one day lead to a cure for spinal cord injuries, but that one day ... families will no longer watch in agony as a loved one with Parkinson's or Alzheimer's gradually declines." After the president vowed to veto the new bill, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said: "It's not science or facts driving Bush's decision. It is pure pandering to his radical right-wing base." Saving people from misery is the most pro-life act we know. We hope Bush relents on his veto threat - or that Congress overrides him - or that it returns to this noble effort repeatedly until American medical research finally is loosed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn