posted July 29, 2005 03:23 PM            

"It's not just a matter of faith, it's a matter of science," Frist, R-Tenn., said on the floor of the Senate.

Frist's announcement immediately dented his support among Christian conservatives but won lavish praise from former first lady Nancy Reagan, who said it "has the potential to alleviate so much suffering." Her husband, the late former President Ronald Reagan, had Alzheimer's disease.

At the White House, press secretary Scott McClellan said Frist had given Bush advance notice of his announcement. "The president said, `You've got to vote your conscience,'" McClellan said.

"The president's made his position clear," the spokesman said when asked if Bush stands by his threat to veto a pending bill that would liberalize federal support for stem cell research. "There is a principle involved here from the president's standpoint when it comes to issues of life," McClellan said.

Frist notified Bush, Mrs. Reagan and House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., of his pending announcement in telephone calls late Thursday, according to a Republican congressional source who spoke on condition of anonymity because the calls were confidential.

Bush and Frist appeared together at the White House shortly after Frist's speech as the president signed a bill that allows health care professionals to report information on medical errors without fearing that it will be used against them in lawsuits.

Bush introduced him as "Doctor Bill Frist" and afterward, Bush shook Frist's hand and said something that made the majority leader laugh. As Bush was leaving the room, he summoned Frist to join him.

The Christian Defense Coalition lambasted Frist's change of position.

"Senator Frist should not expect support and endorsement from the pro-life community if he votes for embryonic research funding," it said.

"Senator Frist cannot have it both ways. He cannot be pro-life and pro-embryonic stem cell funding," said Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, director of the group. "Nor can he turn around and expect widespread endorsement from the pro-life community if he should decide to run for president in 2008."

A heart-lung transplant surgeon who opposes abortion, Frist said loosening Bush's strict limitations on stem cell research would lead to scientific advances and "bridge the moral and ethical differences" that have made the issue politically charged.

"While human embryonic stem cell research is still at a very early stage, the limitation put into place in 2001 will, over time, slow our ability to bring potential new treatments for certain diseases," the Tennessee lawmaker said in his speech.

"Therefore, I believe the president's policy should be modified. We should expand federal funding ... and current guidelines governing stem cell research, carefully and thoughtfully, staying within ethical bounds," he said.

Bush has threatened to veto legislation for expanded financial support for stem cell research. A bill to finance more stem cell research has passed the House, but has been stalled in the Senate. Frist's support could push it closer to passage and set up a confrontation with Bush.

Frist's announcement will put pressure on the White House, predicted Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record), R-Pa., a cancer patient and the bill's sponsor.

"I know that the president will listen to what Senator Frist has to say," Specter said. "I'm not saying he is going to agree with it. But what Senator Frist has had to say is weighty, and I think may bring us all together on this issue."

House Republicans, however, said they were "profoundly disappointed" in Frist's decision, saying federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research is fiscally irresponsible because it's unproven technology.

"Senator Frist is a good man, he's simply advocating a bad policy," said House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas.

Rep. Phil Gingrey (news, bio, voting record), R-Ga., rejected the praise showered upon Frist for bucking his party and the White House. "I think the courageous speech would have been to continue to stand strongly in defense of the sanctity of life," Gingrey, a physician, told reporters. "We will fight him on this to the very end."

"House conservatives are profoundly disappointed at Senator Frist's decision to abandon this cause," said Rep. Mike Pence (news, bio, voting record), R-Ind.

It also could impact Frist's own political future. A likely presidential candidate in 2008, Frist has been courting religious conservatives who helped make Bush a twice-elected president and generally consider embryonic stem cell research a moral equivalent to abortion. But the announcement, coming just a month after Frist said he did not support expanded financing "at this juncture," could help him with centrist voters.

The announcement came the same week that a group of supporters for the research, StemPAC, launched a television ad in New Hampshire criticizing Frist for not scheduling a vote on the issue. Frist added on Friday that he expected debate and a vote when the Senate returns from vacation in the fall.

With those political realities in mind, Frist argued that his positions on stem cell research and abortion were not inconsistent. He said the decision was about policy, not politics.

Frist's decision brought quick praise from leading Democrats.

"It is a decision that will bring hope to millions of Americans," said Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada. "I know there's still a long ways to go with the legislation, but a large step has been taken by the majority leader today ... and I admire the majority leader for doing it."

posted August 01, 2005 01:10 AM            

By Susan Cornwell
Sun Jul 31, 6:11 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An expansion of federally funded embryonic stem cell research could pass the U.S. Senate with a veto-proof margin now that the chamber's leader backs the idea, a leading sponsor of the effort said on Sunday.

But it may be harder getting the super-majority needed to override a possible presidential veto in the House of Representatives, Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record) said.

Specter said the decision last week by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to defy President Bush and support legislation liberalizing the administration's policy on stem cell research had given the effort a "big boost" in Congress.

"I think we're on our way," Specter, co-sponsor of a bill to expand the research, told CBS's "Face the Nation."

Bush, a Republican, has said he will veto any bill that extends embryonic stem cell research beyond the limits he imposed in 2001. The president is opposed because embryos are destroyed when the stem cells are extracted.

Frist, a Tennessee Republican and heart surgeon who may seek his party's presidential nomination in 2008, broke with Bush on Friday by endorsing a bill already passed by the House -- though not with a veto-proof margin -- that would overturn the limits Bush imposed four years ago.

Specter said the change of heart on stem cells by the anti-abortion Frist gave political cover to lawmakers in both houses of Congress who were considering the issue.

"My analysis is that we have 62 votes at the present time, and we've got about 15 more people who are thinking it over. I believe that by the time the vote comes up we'll have 67," Specter said, referring to the two-thirds Senate majority needed to override a presidential veto.

"I think our problem ... is going to be to get it in the House," Specter added.

Separately, conservative Republican Sen. Rick Santorum (news, bio, voting record) said he was convinced Bush would still veto the legislation, despite the shifting politics on Capitol Hill.

"Without question the president will veto this," Santorum, the Senate's third-ranking Republican, told ABC's "This Week."

"Obviously the majority of the House and majority of the Senate disagree with him, but I'm hopeful the House will continue to have the votes necessary to sustain this veto," said Santorum, who like Specter is from Pennsylvania.

The stem cell bill, likely to be brought up in the Senate after the August recess, would allow federally funded research on cells derived from leftover embryos in fertility clinics. There are about 400,000 such frozen embryos, many of which will otherwise be destroyed.

Patients suffering from diabetes, Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injuries and other life-threatening disorders have been clamoring for more federal dollars for cell research.

Santorum warned that Frist's decision could create problems for him with the Republicans' conservative base.

But Specter, a moderate Republican and cancer patient, disagreed, adding that he didn't think a presidential candidate opposed to expanding stem cell research could be elected.