070701Bush Weighs Stem Cell Decision Amid Reminders of Suffering
KENNEBUNKPORT, Me., July 7 — As President Bush inches closer to a
decision about federal support for embryonic stem cell research, he
is surrounded by reminders — in Republican circles, in his White
House and even in his family's past — of the lives diminished by
afflictions that the research might help fight.
A sister, Robin, died of leukemia at age 3. The Republican Party's
most beloved living hero, former President Ronald Reagan, is wasting
away with Alzheimer's disease.
And the father of Andrew H. Card Jr., Mr. Bush's chief of staff,
battled Parkinson's disease for years until his death in 1994. Mr.
Card's mother developed Alzheimer's and died late last year.
Parkinson's and Alzheimer's are among the diseases for which
treatment could perhaps be advanced the most by the research.
Several people who know Mr. Card, including two administration
officials, said his father's experience helped shape his view about
research using cells from human embryos, which they said he favored.
One official said he was certain that Mr. Card, who was at some of
the president's White House discussions about the issue, had shared
his feelings with the president.
But other officials and Bush advisers outside the White House said
that Mr. Card had largely kept his feelings to himself. Mr. Card,
through a White House spokesman, declined a request for an
interview.
Mr. Card's family story, like Mr. Reagan's illness and many other
examples of suffering in Mr. Bush's immediate and extended circles,
underscores the deeply personal nature of the debate over federal
support for the research. It also suggests that Mr. Bush's
deliberations, no matter what decision they yield, are being
influenced by more than political ideology and abstract morality.
"It's one of the things that makes it so difficult," one of Mr.
Bush's aides said. Like other aides, this one said the White House
had been bombarded by passionate pleas from people arguing for or
against the research — and that the issue had been the most volatile
one Mr. Bush had encountered since taking office.
But in this case, the official said, the appeals are coming not just
from advocates on each side of the issue. They are sometimes coming
from friends or acquaintances who have watched someone suffer from
Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, juvenile diabetes or a
number of other illnesses, and who have become fervent proponents of
the research for that reason.
"There has been an awful lot of traffic on this — tons," the aide
said.
Daniel Perry, the executive director of the Alliance for Aging
Research, an advocacy group that supports research using embryonic
stem cells, said that one member of his organization's board was
friendly with Vice President Dick Cheney and went fishing with Mr.
Cheney in Montana a month ago. The board member, whom Mr. Perry
would not identify by name, used the opportunity to make his case
for the research.
Mr. Cheney "got an earful," Mr. Perry said.
Kenneth M. Duberstein, a chief of staff for Mr. Reagan, has made it
publicly clear — and thus clear to Mr. Bush — that many of Mr.
Reagan's advisers and friends want the research to go forward.
Mr. Duberstein's comments also seemed to signal to Mr. Bush that
invoking Mr. Reagan's name would be a wise and effective way to
explain a decision to permit the research to religious
conservatives, many of whom oppose it but revere the former
president.
"It's not a political decision," Mr. Duberstein said. "It's the
right decision. This could make a difference for many people
bedeviled by the same disease as our beloved Ronald Reagan. Old
Reagan hands would applaud."
These sorts of testimonials and points of reference have made a
decision more difficult and complicated for Mr. Bush, who is also
receiving a deluge of phone calls and letters from some Roman
Catholics and religious conservatives. These people contend that
using embryos for research is sanctioning the destruction of life
and puts the country on a slippery slope that could lead to an even
more permissive approach to abortion.
"On the passion meter, this is as high as it gets," one
administration official said.
Administration officials said that Mr. Bush had agonized over what
to do. One said that for several weeks Mr. Bush had brought the
issue up almost daily, even in meetings not directly related to the
topic.
"It's come up in economic policy meetings," the official said. "He
says, `Hold on,' and we get back into stem cell. He has talked about
the issue an awful lot. He has been studying this issue
comprehensively."
And yet, several aides said, Mr. Bush has not given clear signals
about what he plans to do. One aide said that Mr. Bush concluded a
recent meeting on the subject by saying, "I'll make up my mind when
I make up my mind — and then I'll tell you."
While people close to Mr. Bush are reluctant to talk about his
deliberations, several said they were certain he knew that many
people he respected had personal or family medical histories that
inclined them to favor stem cell research.
Those people include, for example, former Senator Connie Mack, a
Florida Republican, who was seriously considered as a running mate
for Mr. Bush in the 2000 election. Mr. Mack, a Roman Catholic who
opposes abortion, has been an ardent advocate for embryonic stem
cell research, a position informed by his family's experiences with
cancer. Both of his parents, his wife, his younger brother, his
daughter and he himself have battled various forms of cancer.
He is just one of many current and former members of Congress who
have personal connections or family stories that have heightened
their awareness of what could be gained from the research and who
have come to support it despite an opposition to abortion.
Mr. Card has been quiet on the issue publicly. In the past, he has
been active with the American Parkinson's Disease Association. Jim
Maurer, the former president of the Massachusetts chapter of that
group, said that Mr. Card served on his board of directors in 1996
and 1997 and "was really good about letting us use his name."
Mr. Card, who is from Massachusetts, was transportation secretary in
the first Bush administration.
Mr. Maurer, 69, who has had Parkinson's for more than a decade,
recalled meeting Mr. Card when his father was alive and a
participant in support groups for people with Parkinson's and their
family members.
"His mother and father were very diligent about attending," Mr.
Maurer said. "His dad was quite advanced for many years. He was in a
wheelchair. I can remember his mother pushing that wheelchair, even
in the middle of winter."
Mr. Maurer said he kept in touch with Mr. Card but was reluctant to
push him on stem cell research.
"I know that he's in touch with the facts," Mr. Maurer said.
Ari Fleischer, the White House press secretary, said that Mr. Card
usually deferred in meetings to the administration's designated
experts on a given subject.
"Andy likes for the people in charge of the issue to lead the
briefing," Mr. Fleischer said.
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