Bush okays limited stem cell research

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

SAN FRANCISCO, AUG. 10. After agonising over a decision for weeks, the President, Mr. George W. Bush, finally took the expected middle path and approved limited Federal funding for medical research on stem cells extracted from human embryos.

In a nationally televised addressed during prime time from his home in Texas, Mr. Bush argued that the issue of stem cell research was ``one of the most profound of our time'' and made the point that one of the reasons he moved in the direction was the potential for the cure of terrible diseases such as juvenile diabetes and alzheimers.

It was Mr. Bush's first prime time address of his Presidency and his speech to the nation was kept a secret until just a few hours before he delivered it. There was the impression that the President will only be ready with a decision closer to the end of his vacation period.

The White House has come under different kinds of pressures on stem cell research with some of the more religious and conservatives coming out strongly against it. But there were those in the scientific and research community who supported a limited funding given what could be achieved down the years.

The expectation all along has been that Mr. Bush will take the middle path, not wanting to antogonise the anti- abortionists in his party but at the same time keep the scientific momentum going. The President himself has an anti- abortion line. But in approving Federal funding, it has been made clear that the funding will be limited to existing lines of embryonic stem cells. That is, research will be restricted to the embryos that have already been destroyed.

One of the things that Mr. Bush stressed in his brief address to the nation was that it was ``important that we pay attention to the moral concerns of the new frontier''. The President has come out against human cloning, a move that was recently passed in a rather sweeping fashion in the House of Representatives. But in staying in line with the moral concerns, Mr. Bush also made the point that the United States has always been in the forefront of science.

Mr. Bush said he came to his decision on limited funding for stem cell research after consulting with a wide range of people, not just in the academic field. The group included ethicists, anti- abortionists, advocates of illness, research scholars and religious leaders. In fact, during a recent visit to Europe, the President had an audience with Pope John Paul II who strongly came out against stem cell research.

The President was in an unenviable position and stood to be criticised in whichever direction he turned. But what has come to assist the White House and the President's advisors was that six out of 10 Americans support stem cell research; 50 per cent of the Republicans support the funding for research but 40 per cent are against the idea.

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Section  : International
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