Stem cells: a pothole in the moral high-road
Bob Williams
July 02, 2007
President Bush has, for the second time, vetoed a bill which would provide federal funds for expanded stem cell research. As he vetoed the legislation on June 20 Bush said, "America is a nation founded on the principle that all human life is sacred. And our conscience calls us to pursue the possibilities of science in a manner that respects human dignity and upholds our moral values."
In saying this Bush staked out the moral high-road, as he sees it, while denying funds for research most Americans want. A Washington Post ABC News poll indicated 68 percent of Americans support embryonic stem cell research. If Bush is correct, then why do we have an Immoral Majority of Americans who want an increase in federal funding for stem cell research? Perhaps it is because a majority of Americans feel that the moral course of action is just the opposite of what Bush claims.
The funding legislation Bush vetoed specified that the only embryonic cell lines that could be used for research would be those discarded by in-vitro fertilization clinics. In-vitro fertilization produces far more fertilized ova than can be used. What happens to these embryonic cells if not implanted in the donor? In the long-run they go into a medical waste incinerator. This is the fate of thousands of these cells each year. Many of the people who use in-vitro fertilization would be happy to have the excess embryonic cells used in research that could benefit others. Researchers at Duke and at Johns Hopkins Universities surveyed over a thousand patients who had in-vitro fertility treatment and 60 percent said they would likely donate unused embryos for stem cell research. Does incineration of these cells ‘respect human dignity and uphold our moral values’ more than using them in the hope of curing some of our most dreaded diseases?
Bush has never asked for legislation prohibiting in-vitro fertilization although the process carries with it the sure destruction of many embryonic cells. Is this because his conservative political base does not oppose in-vitro fertilization? Is it a political decision because he knows there would be a firestorm of opposition? Or is it because George Bush cannot see shades of gray, cannot balance or weigh competing claims on ethical or moral propriety? Most Americans can and do make such evaluations even while recognizing that their decision is often not simple or easy. Bush is not like this. For him it is a simple world.
Given the large number of people who favor embryonic stem cell research President Bush attempted to soften the veto blow by issuing an executive order encouraging more research on adult stem cells in the hope that they can eventually be modified to develop into the wide array of cell types and tissues which we know embryonic stem cells can produce. He made no new funds available for this.
This only delays the day when stem cells can help people suffering from what are now incurable diseases. Diabetes and Parkinson’s disease are most often mentioned, but there is a large array of ailments potentially curable by supplementing or replacing failing cells with a healthy cell line. Sufferers from these diseases must wonder why a cell, destined for an incinerator, has “rights” to life which they do not.
How unreasonable is the position of George Bush? That’s hard to overstate. Our present federal law does not prohibit any kind of stem cell research. That itself is strange if this is predominantly a moral issue. The federal statute only prohibits federal research funds using new cell lines. Private money and state money can be, and are being, used for these purposes but are minor in comparison to what could be achieved through federal funding. But these non-federal funds have produced an estimated 400 stem cell lines ready for research use. These embryonic stem cell lines are immortal in the sense that they can go on dividing into millions of cells available for use over years without senescence or cell death, and they accumulate few or no mutations. These cell cultures exist now and are ready for use.
These embryonic stem cell lines will be, and are being, used in research; more in California than in any other place in the nation. But the work is slow and millions could be helped years earlier if federal funds were made available in this effort, the sooner the better. In the words of the old hymn which George Bush’s supporters know well, “Then why not tonight?”
In saying this Bush staked out the moral high-road, as he sees it, while denying funds for research most Americans want. A Washington Post ABC News poll indicated 68 percent of Americans support embryonic stem cell research. If Bush is correct, then why do we have an Immoral Majority of Americans who want an increase in federal funding for stem cell research? Perhaps it is because a majority of Americans feel that the moral course of action is just the opposite of what Bush claims.
The funding legislation Bush vetoed specified that the only embryonic cell lines that could be used for research would be those discarded by in-vitro fertilization clinics. In-vitro fertilization produces far more fertilized ova than can be used. What happens to these embryonic cells if not implanted in the donor? In the long-run they go into a medical waste incinerator. This is the fate of thousands of these cells each year. Many of the people who use in-vitro fertilization would be happy to have the excess embryonic cells used in research that could benefit others. Researchers at Duke and at Johns Hopkins Universities surveyed over a thousand patients who had in-vitro fertility treatment and 60 percent said they would likely donate unused embryos for stem cell research. Does incineration of these cells ‘respect human dignity and uphold our moral values’ more than using them in the hope of curing some of our most dreaded diseases?
Bush has never asked for legislation prohibiting in-vitro fertilization although the process carries with it the sure destruction of many embryonic cells. Is this because his conservative political base does not oppose in-vitro fertilization? Is it a political decision because he knows there would be a firestorm of opposition? Or is it because George Bush cannot see shades of gray, cannot balance or weigh competing claims on ethical or moral propriety? Most Americans can and do make such evaluations even while recognizing that their decision is often not simple or easy. Bush is not like this. For him it is a simple world.
Given the large number of people who favor embryonic stem cell research President Bush attempted to soften the veto blow by issuing an executive order encouraging more research on adult stem cells in the hope that they can eventually be modified to develop into the wide array of cell types and tissues which we know embryonic stem cells can produce. He made no new funds available for this.
This only delays the day when stem cells can help people suffering from what are now incurable diseases. Diabetes and Parkinson’s disease are most often mentioned, but there is a large array of ailments potentially curable by supplementing or replacing failing cells with a healthy cell line. Sufferers from these diseases must wonder why a cell, destined for an incinerator, has “rights” to life which they do not.
How unreasonable is the position of George Bush? That’s hard to overstate. Our present federal law does not prohibit any kind of stem cell research. That itself is strange if this is predominantly a moral issue. The federal statute only prohibits federal research funds using new cell lines. Private money and state money can be, and are being, used for these purposes but are minor in comparison to what could be achieved through federal funding. But these non-federal funds have produced an estimated 400 stem cell lines ready for research use. These embryonic stem cell lines are immortal in the sense that they can go on dividing into millions of cells available for use over years without senescence or cell death, and they accumulate few or no mutations. These cell cultures exist now and are ready for use.
These embryonic stem cell lines will be, and are being, used in research; more in California than in any other place in the nation. But the work is slow and millions could be helped years earlier if federal funds were made available in this effort, the sooner the better. In the words of the old hymn which George Bush’s supporters know well, “Then why not tonight?”
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