QUESTION: IF EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS ARE NOT AS "GOOD" OR PROMISING AS ADULT
SCs, WHY ALL THE PUSH TO MAKE ADULT STEM CELLS PLURIPOTENT? "PLURIPOTENT'
IS THE NEW BUZZ WORD IN BUSH-SPEAK. Where in the Constitiution is the
President given the power to issue "Executive Orders"? I thought he was
supposed to execute the laws, not make them. ARE YOU TIRED OF THIS
DANGEROUS FOOL YET???
ray
The president issues an executive order:
EXPANDING APPROVED STEM CELL LINES
IN ETHICALLY RESPONSIBLE WAYS
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the
laws of the United States of America, and to provide leadership with respect
to research on pluripotent stem cells derived by ethically responsible
techniques so that the potential of pluripotent stem cells can be explored
without violating human dignity or demeaning human life, it is hereby
ordered as follows:
Section 1. Research on Alternative Sources of Pluripotent Stem Cells.
(a) The Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) shall conduct
and support research on the isolation, derivation, production, and testing
of stem cells that are capable of producing all or almost all of the cell
types of the developing body and may result in improved understanding of or
treatments for diseases and other adverse health conditions, but are derived
without creating a human embryo for research purposes or destroying,
discarding, or subjecting to harm a human embryo or fetus.
(b) Within 90 days of this order, the Secretary, after such
consultation with the Director of the National Institutes of Health
(Director), shall issue a plan, including such mechanisms as requests for
proposals, requests for applications, program announcements and other
appropriate means, to implement subsection (a) of this section, that:
(i) specifies and reflects a determination of the extent to which specific
techniques may require additional basic or animal research to ensure that
any research involving human cells using these techniques is clearly
consistent with the standards established under this order and applicable
law;
(ii) prioritizes research with the greatest potential for clinical benefit;
(iii) takes into account techniques outlined by the President's Council on
Bioethics, and any other appropriate techniques and research, provided they
clearly meet the standard set forth in subsection (a) of this section;
(iv) renames the "Human Embryonic Stem Cell Registry" the "Human
Pluripotent Stem Cell Registry;" and
(v) adds to the registry new human pluripotent stem cell lines that
clearly meet the standard set forth in subsection (a) of this section.
(c) Not later than December 31 of each year, the Secretary shall
report to the President on the activities carried out under this order
during the past fiscal year, including a description of the research carried
out or supported by the Department of Health and Human Services, including
the National Institutes of Health, and other developments in the science of
pluripotent stem cells not derived from human embryos.
Sec. 2. Policy. The activities undertaken and supported by and under
the direction of the Secretary shall be clearly consistent with the
following policies and principles:
(a) the purposes of this order are (i) to direct the Department of
Health and Human Services, including the National Institutes of Health, to
intensify peer reviewed research that may result in improved understanding
of or treatments for diseases and other adverse health conditions, and (ii)
to promote the derivation of human pluripotent stem cell lines from a
variety of alternative sources while clearly meeting the standard set forth
in section 1(a) of this order;
(b) it is critical to establish moral and ethical boundaries to allow
the Nation to move forward vigorously
with medical research, while also maintaining the highest ethical standards
and respecting human life and human dignity;
(c) the destruction of nascent life for research violates the
principle that no life should be used as a mere means for achieving the
medical benefit of another;
(d) human embryos and fetuses, as living members of the human species,
are not raw materials to be exploited or commodities to be bought and sold;
and
(e) the Federal Government has a duty to exercise responsible
stewardship of taxpayer funds, both supporting important medical research
and respecting ethical and moral boundaries.
Sec. 3. Interpretation of this Order. (a) For purposes of this
order, the term "human embryo" shall mean any organism, not protected as a
human subject under 45 CFR 46 as of the date of this order, that is derived
by fertilization, parthenogenesis, cloning, or any other means from one or
more human gametes or human diploid cells.
(b) For purposes of this order, the term "subjecting to harm a human
embryo" shall mean subjecting such an embryo to risk of injury or death
greater than that allowed for research on fetuses in utero under 45 CFR
46.204(b) and section 498(b) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.
289g(b)) as of the date of this order.
(c) Nothing in this order shall be construed to affect any policy,
guideline, or regulation regarding embryonic stem
cell research, human cloning by somatic cell nuclear transfer, or any other
research not specifically authorized by this order,
or to forbid the use of existing stem cell lines deemed eligible for other
federally funded research in accordance with the
presidential policy decision of August 9, 2001, for research specifically
authorized by this order.
Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) This order shall be implemented
consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.
(b) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right,
benefit, or privilege, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in
equity, by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies,
or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
GEORGE W. BUSH
06/20 02:19 PM
National Review Online 2006-2007. All Rights Reserved.
Rayilyn Brown
Board Member AZNPF
Arizona Chapter National Parkinson's Foundation
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