070201G.O.P Leaders in the House Fight Stem-Cell Aid
WASHINGTON, July 2 — House Republican leaders urged President Bush
today to prohibit the spending of federal money on biomedical
research that used cells derived from human embryos. The research,
they said, relies on "an industry of death."
The strongly worded statement came as a battle was raging within the
Bush administration over whether to allow federal support for
experiments with embryonic stem cells — primordial cells that can
reproduce themselves and can, in theory, be manipulated to create
almost any cells in the human body.
Some conservatives who oppose abortion, like Senator Orrin G. Hatch,
Republican of Utah, and many scientists have urged Mr. Bush to
encourage such research with federal money. The Roman Catholic
Church and most anti-abortion groups staunchly oppose the research
because, they say, it destroys human life.
Three top House Republicans — Dick Armey of Texas, the majority
leader; Tom DeLay of Texas, the majority whip; and J. C. Watts Jr.
of Oklahoma, the chairman of the House Republican Conference — came
down firmly today against federal spending for research with cells
extracted from human embryos.
The conference consists of all 222 House Republicans, but there was
no indication that Mr. Watts had polled the members.
In a joint statement, the three Republican leaders said: "The
federal government cannot morally look the other way with respect to
the destruction of human embryos, then accept and pay for extracted
stem cells for the purpose of medical research. It is not pro-life
to rely on an industry of death, even if the intention is to find
cures for diseases. We can find cures with life-affirming, not
life-destroying, methods that are becoming more promising with each
passing day."
The speaker of the House, J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois, did not
join in the statement. John P. Feehery, a spokesman for Mr. Hastert,
said that the speaker was strongly opposed to abortion and did not
necessarily disagree with the statement, but that he "wanted to see
what the president would do."
Opponents say that in obtaining embryonic stem cells, scientists
destroy the embryos, killing human life to secure research material.
Health policy experts in the Bush administration, led by Tommy G.
Thompson, the secretary of health and human services, say that
research with embryonic stem cells may lead to new treatments and
even cures for Parkinson's disease, diabetes, heart disease and
spinal cord injuries. In a report to Mr. Thompson last month, the
National Institutes of Health said that embryonic stem cells had
helped reverse symptoms of diabetes in mice and that similar
treatments for humans "may soon be possible."
But the president's political advisers, led by Karl Rove, worry that
federal support for research with embryonic stem cells will alienate
conservative voters, anti-abortion organizations and the hierarchy
of the Catholic Church.
In a recent letter to the president, Mr. Armey said, "Such research
is not only illegal, it is immoral and unnecessary."
Mr. Armey urged Mr. Bush to increase federal spending on research
with stem cells derived from the tissue of adults. In its report,
the institutes said that both types of stem cells held immense
promise but that for some purposes the embryonic stem cells were
more useful.
Administration officials have said that Mr. Bush will probably make
his decision this month. Mr. Bush is scheduled to meet Pope John
Paul II outside Rome on July 23, and it is unclear how that meeting
might affect the timing of his decision.
The pope said last year that embryos were, from the moment of
fertilization, a form of human life to be protected as "human
persons" with inviolable rights.
Stem cells used in research are from embryos created for fertility
treatment. The embryos are typically about five days old and consist
of 200 to 250 cells, scientists say.
Aides to the three House Republican leaders said their statement was
intended to shore up support for Mr. Rove, after many prominent
Republicans had weighed in on the opposite side of the debate.
Among the Republicans who have endorsed the use of federal money for
research with embryonic stem cells are Mr. Hatch and Senators Arlen
Specter of Pennsylvania, Strom Thurmond of South Carolina and Susan
Collins of Maine, as well as Representative Jennifer Dunn of
Washington.
In a recent letter to an anti-abortion group, Mr. Bush said, "I
oppose federal funding for stem cell research that involves
destroying living human embryos." But, he added, "I support
innovative medical research on life-threatening and debilitating
diseases, including promising research on stem cells from adult
tissue."
Federal officials said the administration was considering several
compromises. One would permit the use of federal money for research
on collections of stem cells already derived from human embryos. But
experts said that the existing collections, known as cell lines, had
different properties and different therapeutic potential, and some
are controlled by institutions that have commercial or proprietary
interests in them. It is unclear whether the government could compel
the owners of those cell lines to share them with other researchers.
The specific question for Mr. Bush is whether to accept, reject or
modify guidelines issued by President Bill Clinton last August.
Under a federal law adopted each year since 1996, no federal money
can be used to create human embryos "for research purposes" or to
finance research in which an embryo is destroyed, discarded or
knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death.
The Clinton administration said the ban did not apply to stem cell
research because "stem cells are not human embryos."
Under the Clinton administration guidelines, scientists can use
federal money to conduct research with embryonic stem cells created
in the course of fertility treatments. But scientists cannot use
federal money to extract the stem cells from human embryos.
The National Conference of Catholic Bishops and other critics
denounce this distinction as sophistry.
In their statement today, Mr. Armey, Mr. DeLay and Mr. Watts said
they hoped Mr. Bush would "uphold current law" and ban federal
spending on research with embryonic stem cells.
"Republicans in Congress take a back seat to no one when it comes to
promoting medical research," they said. "Under our leadership, the
National Institutes of Health has received record levels of funding
in order to find cures for diseases. We will continue to properly
fund this crucial research, but it must advance the cause of life
without sacrificing some lives to better others."
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