When Political Ideology Is Unhealthy

With the House of Representatives scheduled to vote today on a bill lifting the three-year federal ban on fetal tissue transplant research, the Bush Administration finds itself in the uncomfortable and unfamiliar position of defending a medical research policy that is devoid of scientific or ethical merit.

Fetal tissue grafts have shown rising promise in the last 20 years as a treatment for Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, spinal cord injuries, muscular dystrophy, hemophilia and a host of other disorders. In grafts the tissue grows so fast it can replace damaged or dying cells before the body rejects the transplanted material.

But such tissue comes from aborted human fetuses. For that reason, the Bush and Reagan administrations, because of their opposition to abortion, have objected to all transplant research using the tissue. In consequence, and contrary to the recommendation of a prestigious scientific advisory panel, the federal government has denied funds for research since 1988. And so research has withered in the United States, even as it flourished abroad.

Moreover, the Bush Administration deployed the fetal tissue issue, like the broader issue of abortion, as a “litmus test” for federal appointees. For example, the directorship of the National Institutes of Health, which funds most biomedical research in the United States, was vacant for almost two years while the Administration searched for an ideologically acceptable candidate. After some candidates for the post were angered by questioning about their views on abortion, the White House said it was dropping this so-called litmus test. But when Dr. Bernadine Healy--previously an active advocate of such research--was nominated as NIH director last spring, she suddenly changed her mind and came out against the research.

The heavy-handed tactics by the Administration may have backfired. A remarkable political shift has recently occurred. Last year Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) failed in his effort to tack onto the annual NIH reauthorization bill language that would have lifted the research ban. Since then, the American medical profession has stepped forward, strongly denouncing the ban as contrary to the principles of scientific research and the health of Americans with potentially treatable diseases.

House passage of this year’s NIH reauthorization bill--with language lifting the fetal tissue ban identical to that in last year’s bill--is assured. The White House is watching quietly to see whether the vote is veto-proof. We strongly hope it is.