Sen. Frist Expected to Back Stem Cell Bill

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, breaking with President Bush, plans to announce support of legislation to expand federal financing for embryonic stem cell research, increasing the possibility that Congress could enact the measure, a Senate aide knowledgeable about Frist’s plans said late Thursday.

Frist, who last month said he did not support expanded federal financing of such research, is expected to explain his decision in a speech on the Senate floor today.

Frist plans to say he has reservations about disagreeing with Bush’s policy, which stringently limits taxpayer financing, but will support the legislation anyway, said the aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of a reluctance to undercut Frist’s formal announcement.

Bob Stevenson, the Tennessee lawmaker’s spokesman, declined to comment beyond saying that Frist planned remarks on stem cell research when the Senate resumed business today.

Frist could not be reached for comment late Thursday.

His decision was first reported Thursday night by the New York Times on its website. It quoted Frist as saying in the text of his planned speech that the limitations put in place by the Bush administration in 2001 “will, over time, slow our ability to bring potential new treatments for certain diseases.”

“Therefore, I believe the president’s policy should be modified,” the newspaper quoted Frist, a surgeon, as planning to say.

Bush has threatened to veto legislation for expanded financial support for such research. A bill to finance more research has passed the House but has been stalled in the Senate.

A shift in views could affect Frist’s presidential prospects because it would put him in conflict with not only the White House but Christian conservatives, whose support he had been courting. The newspaper said Frist, in his speech, would reaffirm his position on abortion and say he could reconcile his position on stem cell research with his antiabortion views.