Stem-Cell Debate Expected Next Year
Congress will wait until next year before deciding whether to remove key restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research that advocates say could lead to cures for Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and other diseases.
A final attempt to get a bill through the Senate late last month was blocked by Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), a leading abortion opponent. He said embryonic cell research is “illegal, is immoral and it’s unnecessary.”
Supporters of the research, including Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Health and Human Services panel, argue that it can save lives.
“Stem cells have such a remarkable opportunity to cure many of the most difficult maladies and diseases which confront America and the world today,” Specter said.
He said Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) has promised his measure will get an early hearing in the Senate next year.
“There are strong and passionate feelings about it on both sides in terms of what it can do for some health problems and there are others who obviously think this is an improper use,” Lott said. “I am sure it will be a good debate whenever it is debated and wherever it is debated.”
Embryonic stem cells are the master cells that in very early embryos generate all the other tissues of the body. Scientists think those cells possibly could cure such diseases as Alzheimer’s, diabetes or Parkinson’s, or even repair broken spinal cords by replacing ravaged cells in the body.
The federal government has not funded any research into embryonic stem cells because of a congressional ban on any research that destroys human embryos. Taking stem cells from embryos--which at the time are no bigger than the period at the end of a sentence--does destroy them, which opponents of the bill say is immoral.
Opponents want scientists limited to using stem cells from adults. But researchers say adult stem cells are far scarcer and may not grow as well as those found in embryos, so trying both approaches is crucial.
The National Institutes of Health has proposed allowing federal funding of research on stem cells that are removed from human embryos but forbidding research on the embryo itself. Specter’s legislation would go further, letting women agree to donate to federally funded researchers their leftover embryos from in-vitro fertilization.
Specter brought in actors Michael J. Fox and Mary Tyler Moore and other celebrities to a September hearing to push for the legislation.
“The consistent and inescapable conclusion is that this research offers the potential to eliminate diseases, literally saving millions of lives,” Fox said. He left the ABC sitcom “Spin City” in May to devote more time to fighting Parkinson’s after he was diagnosed as having the progressive neurological disorder.
