HEALTH : White House Tries to Derail Fetal-Tissue Research Measure

The White House is expected to launch a last-minute attempt today to derail expected congressional action on legislation that would overturn a federal ban on fetal-tissue research.

The action is likely to come in an order by President Bush to establish a national bank and registry for tissue obtained from ectopic pregnancies and miscarriages.

The proposal is being made at a time when Congress is on the verge of giving resounding and final approval to a measure overturning the ban on fetal-tissue research. The House is scheduled to vote on Thursday with Senate approval expected to follow. The action is certain to force a veto showdown with the White House.

Creation of a national tissue bank and registry is intended to convince anti-abortion Republican lawmakers that there is no need to eliminate the current prohibition on the use of tissue obtained during induced abortions. But it will have no practical impact on the ban because the law does not apply to the use of tissue obtained from spontaneous abortions--miscarriages--or tubal pregnancies. It is already legal for scientists to use such tissue.

BACKGROUND: The fetal-tissue ban has been the subject of intense public debate since it was first imposed by the Ronald Reagan Administration in April, 1988. The ban has pitted medical researchers and disease organizations against certain anti-abortion forces.

Medical experts have said that fetal-tissue research ultimately could benefit patients with Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, spinal cord injuries and other conditions.

Fetal tissue is unusually adaptive to transplantation. Scientists hope that transplanted fetal cells will take over the functions of diseased or destroyed cells.

But abortion opponents maintain that fetal tissue, because it is obtained from an “immoral” procedure, is tainted and should not be used for research or medical treatment, no matter how life-saving it may prove to be.

DEBATE: The legislation, which reauthorizes programs of the National Institutes of Health, enjoys widespread bipartisan support on Capitol Hill--including that of numerous abortion foes who view medical research using fetal tissue as life-affirming. Among them are Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) and Sens. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), Mark O. Hatfield (R-Ore.), John C. Danforth (R-Mo.) and Dennis DeConcini (D-Ariz.).

In fact, several GOP lawmakers--including Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), an outspoken abortion opponent who has campaigned vigorously for the legislation--met with Bush at the White House late Monday in an attempt to talk him out of a veto.

A senior White House official acknowledged Monday that the move to create the new bank reflected concern about the potential for a congressional override, and that the White House was deeply worried about the prospect.

The move to establish such a bank is identical to an amendment offered by Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) during the earlier Senate debate on the bill. The amendment was defeated, 77 to 23.

OUTLOOK: One Bush aide predicted that the new bank would provide tissue for as many as 2,000 experiments a year, enough to supply 10 times the current need. To underscore support for the action, Administration officials were preparing lists of doctors across the nation who say they are prepared to endorse the idea of a bank.

But supporters of the legislation have circulated studies and other documents--including those from scientific journals and from the federal government’s own health agencies--showing that tissue from miscarriages and tubal pregnancies is rarely suitable for research purposes.

Researchers also argue that such tissue is of dubious value because it is often defective--with genetic abnormalities--and is also often difficult to obtain.

The decision by the President to stick with the veto threat appears to reflect political concern about alienating anti-abortion Republican voters. A senior campaign official said advisers to Bush see no “substantive” reason for him to continue to oppose fetal-tissue research, but added that the political reasons remain compelling.