posted July 13, 2006 09:27 PM            

The presidential elections are more than two years away, but some Beltway insiders are already dubbing the Senate's impending consideration of embryonic stem-cell research "a 2008 vote."

The issue, which is slated for an up-or-down vote on July 18, is heating up a year after Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican and likely presidential candidate, unexpectedly endorsed overriding President Bush's restrictions on federally funded stem-cell research.

In recent weeks, Republican leaders in Congress have focused considerable energy on social issues — including constitutional amendments to ban same-sex marriage and to authorize Congress to outlaw desecration of the American flag — that play to their party's base. But the stem-cell debate has proven to be considerably more rocky terrain.

A vocal segment of the Republican base has opposed research on embryonic stem cells, the primal cells that can divide and differentiate into all other cell types, leading researchers to hope they can be used to cure a broad spectrum of maladies including Alzheimer's disease and paralysis. Polls, however, show that a majority of Americans, including some Republicans who oppose abortion rights, favor government funding of stem-cell research.

"I'm not really sure that a lot of Republicans want a vote on this right now, period," said Jennifer Duffy, an editor of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. "It's complicated, and its fairly untested. [The Democrats] believe this is their wedge issue ... [but] I think that we're not going to really know until [the November elections]."

The debate over embryonic stem cells has been active since August 2001, when Bush issued an executive order restricting federal research funds to a small number of lines created before that time. Subsequently, many of those stem-cell lines were found to be defective, and in May of last year the House of Representatives passed a bill, H.R. 810, to override the Bush restrictions.

In July 2005, Frist, a medical doctor and generally a Bush loyalist, infuriated some religious conservatives when he came out against Bush's position for the first time and promised to bring the issue up for a vote in the Senate.

Under an agreement brokered by Frist two weeks ago, the Senate will consider the House bill at the same as two other measures — one of which would encourage research into adult stem cells and the other of which would ban so-called "fetal farms"— with no amendments permitted and a corresponding 60-vote threshold for passage.

Several stem-cell advocates that spoke with the Forward said that they were cautiously optimistic about the prospects of the House bill, but said they worried that the other two bills in the package would provide political cover for Republican dissenters who want to appeal to the religious right, without alienating the wider public. They fear that Bush would take a similar approach, feeling politically confident enough to follow through on his threat to veto the House bill, because he could then sign the measure encouraging alternative stem-cell research.

"We think there will be some people telling the president, 'Look, you can just sign this decoy bill and get away with it,'" said Dan Perry of the Alliance for Aging Research. Then he would "claim that he is on the side of the angels."

A number of Republicans with rumored presidential ambitions have wrestled with the political implications of the stem-cell research. While Senator Sam Brownback, a Kansas Republican and a co-sponsor of the bill banning fetal farming, has consistently opposed embryonic stem-cell research, other likely members of the 2008 GOP field — including Frist, Senator John McCain of Arizona and Senator George Allen of Virginia — have been equivocal or reversed course.

Frist, a transplant surgeon, has said he will vote for all three bills in the package, which his spokesperson, Carolyn Weyforth, said was intended to broaden "the spectrum and allows people to vote according to their conscience and according to science."

Hadar Susskind, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs' representative in Washington, told the Forward that "there's no question" Frist "is trying to have it both ways."

"I give him credit for bringing it up and doing what he said he would do," Susskind said. But, he added, "I would not exactly call him a champion on this issue."

Allen — who political observers say will need religious conservatives if he hopes to emerge from the primaries as the GOP presidential candidate — was initially supportive of federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research. But he reversed course last summer, and said he would only support research that did not destroy embryos.

In contrast, McCain, who depends on support from independent voters, has grown increasingly supportive of stem cell research.

While he was not among the 58 U.S. senators who in June 2004 signed a letter asking the president to loosen his restrictions, in May of last year he told ABC's George Stephanopoulos that he favored embryonic stem cell research, albeit with caveats.

"I think we need to expand it, but I think we've got to be very, very careful that we don't in any way get into cloning," McCain reportedly said. "And I'm not smart enough to ... know where that line is ... I think that we need to expand stem cell research, but I would also err on the side of caution."

This election season, meanwhile, Democrats are raising the stem-cell debate in a host of races — the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has financed television advertisements highlighting the issue in a number of races — while Republicans around the country are finding it to be an Achilles' heel.

The battle over the research is particularly fierce in Missouri, where Republican Senator Jim Talent is facing one of the closest races in the country. He has withstood a barrage of criticism from his likely Democratic challenger, State Auditor Claire McCaskill, over Talent's opposition to a ballot proposal on stem cells, at the same time that he is being pressed by anti-abortion and Catholic supporters to stand firm against the measure.

The proposal, which polls say is supported by Missouri voters by a margin of 2-to-1, is designed to counter repeated attempts by Republican state legislators to outlaw embryonic stem-cell research in the state. It would amend the state constitution to permit the research in accordance with federal law.

Talent announced in May that he opposed the ballot measure — which is supported by other pro-life Republicans, including Missouri Governor Matt Blunt — after months of indecision on the issue.

posted July 18, 2006 11:55 AM            

WASHINGTON -- The Senate is poised today to approve a long-stalled bill designed to expand embryonic stem cell research, setting up a presidential veto -- and adding to an already full plate of issues on which Republicans are divided on the eve of crucial midterm congressional elections.

President Bush is ready to issue the first veto of his presidency on the stem cell bill, a promise his administration reiterated yesterday. The move will please social conservatives, who contend that experimenting on fertilized human eggs to cure diseases amounts to ending human lives.

Yet Bush's veto of a measure that appears to enjoy strong public support will be a deep disappointment to GOP moderates, including some who are facing tight reelection campaigns in a year that Democrats have high hopes for taking control of Congress.

``It blows me away," said Representative Christopher Shays, a Connecticut Republican who is in a reelection dogfight with Democratic challenger Diane Farrell. ``What a horrible circumstance: The president is going to make his first veto something that will stand in the path of scientific progress."

The timing is unfortunate for the GOP, already reeling from internal divisions on a range of high-profile issues. With less than four months until Election Day, as Bush's popularity continues to languish, Republicans remain at odds over immigration reform, tax cuts, the minimum wage, and how to handle trials for suspects captured in the war on terrorism.

Mindful of their circumstances, Republican leaders in the House and Senate have structured the stem cell debate to minimize the political fallout. The Senate will also pass two stem cell measures today that Bush is prepared to sign -- bills that supporters of embryonic stem cell research say are largely symbolic.

House leaders want to attempt a veto override by the end of the week -- an attempt that both sides say is almost certain to fall short of the necessary two-thirds majority vote -- so the GOP can move beyond the issue as quickly as possible. The House is also trying this week to deliver on some conservative favorites, including a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and a bill that would protect the Pledge of Allegiance from court challenges.

Some social conservatives insist that Bush's veto of expanding embryonic stem cell research is good for the party, since it allows Republicans to demonstrate their commitment to protecting human lives.

``It's a gut-check," said Senator Sam Brownback, a Kansas Republican who is a leading opponent of the stem cell bill. ``This is about the nature of the youngest of human beings. Is it a person or a piece of property? This is where the core of the debate is."

Yet many other Republicans say the issue has shifted since the president issued his August 2001 executive order that banned federal funds from supporting experiments on any newly created embryonic stem cell lines.

Celebrities including Michael J. Fox and the late Christopher Reeve have heightened public focus on the issue. Supporters of expanded research count prominent conservative voices in their corner, including former first lady Nancy Reagan -- who is personally lobbying senators on the bill -- as well as Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Republican of Tennessee and a Harvard-trained surgeon, and Senator Orrin Hatch, Republican of Utah.

As Senate debate on the measure began, Senator Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, said ``there is absolutely no sensible reason" for members of his party to stand in the path of embryonic stem cell research. Specter, who battled Hodgkin's disease last year, likened the opposition to the persecution Galileo endured for suggesting that planets revolve around the sun.

``A century from now, people will look back on what we are doing today in wonderment," said Specter.

Specter and other Republicans expressed hope that Bush would reconsider his veto, but the president put any lingering doubts to rest yesterday. His administration issued a formal statement yesterday calling the bill ``seriously flawed."

The bill ``would compel all American taxpayers to pay for research that relies on the intentional destruction of human embryos for the derivation of stem cells, overturning the president's policy that funds research without promoting such ongoing destruction," the statement said.

The bill, passed by the House in the spring of 2005, would authorize federal funding for research on surplus embryos stored at in vitro fertilization clinics, with the consent of donors. Advocates say that some 400,000 embryos that are currently frozen at clinics will eventually be discarded unless experimentation is authorized.

Republican leaders hope the other two stem cell bills will give the president and his allies political cover for the veto. One would ban the creation of fetuses for research purposes; the other would direct the Department of Health and Human Services to explore ways of producing embryonic stem cell lines without killing embryos. Such research is already being funded by the federal government.

Representative Michael Castle, a Delaware Republican and chief sponsor of the embryonic stem cell bill, blasted the packaging of the measures as ``the most transparent political strategy I've ever seen." He predicted that it will backfire on conservatives who argue that they support embryonic stem cell research even as they vote to block such research.

posted July 18, 2006 12:31 PM            

Bullsh1t!!!!

I love how stupid people try to make this a road block to the success of science. If anyone with half a brain researched the past they'd discover that some of our best scientific advances have been as a direct result of NOT taking the easy way.

NO ONE is saying not to use Stem Cells from the umbilical cord (which can be successfully used to promote cells within a tissue culture) but the problem is from aborted fetuses which then turns abortion clinics into one-stop shopping for stem cells. BUT..as always the Liberal media pulls the emotional wool over the public eyes to make them believe it will save dear old dad whereas the intelligent people already know we have a plenty supply of stem cells.

One must also look at the results from past stem cell research and transplants. People with Parkinsons have responded well after the injection of the stem cells that grew into brain cells (replacing those damaged and unable to accept dopamine) UNFORTUNATELY, the cells, being immature and just like embyronic, grew too fast (as they would in a fetus) and began to cause WORSE problems than the medication.

posted July 19, 2006 03:08 PM            

US President George W. Bush used his legislative veto for the first time to block a bill that would have expanded federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.

"It crosses a moral boundary that our decent society needs to respect, so I vetoed it," Bush said at the White House.

The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, passed by the US Senate on Tuesday, would lift rules Bush set in 2001 that make federal funds available only for research on a small number of embryonic stem cell lines which existed at that time.

Supporters have said the research offers major hope to cure many life-threatening illnesses including Parkinsons disease and Alzheimers' disease.

But the president had repeatedly threatened to veto the bill on moral grounds.

"We must also remember that embryonic stem cells come from human embryos that are destroyed for their cells. Each of these human embryos is a unique human life with inherent dignity and matchless value," Bush said in his comments to specially invited families at the White House.

"Some people argue that finding new cures for disease requires the destruction of human embryos," Bush said, before adding: "I disagree.

"I believe that with the right techniques and the right policies we can achieve scientific progress while living up to our ethical responsibilities."

posted July 19, 2006 04:52 PM            

out of everything Bush has done for and to this country this ranks high on my worst.

As the Auntie of a wonderful kid who would greatly benefit from this, he'll never get that chance. With it his quality of life would greatly improve.
He's such a god-send.

Jwhop

posted July 19, 2006 06:35 PM            

Stem cell research is NOT going to be thrown out - Stem cells gathered FROM EMBYRONIC tissue is.

posted July 19, 2006 10:30 PM              

quote:

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I dunno, aren't there avenues to obtain stem cells other than encouraging abortions?

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Yes, there are other avenues. This has nothing to do with the issue of abortion. That is just being used as a smoke and mirrors ploy. Stem cells can be obtained from the placenta of live births. To completely halt stem research ignores that venue as well. It seals the fate of many children born with illnesses that possibly could be cured through stem cell research and it seals the fate of the millions of Americans who suffer from insulin dependent diabetes as well. The U.S. always lead the world in medical technology and medical research. But with this administration we have been taken back to the dark ages. Thank God that Bush or someone like him wasn't in office at the time that penecillin was discovered and all the advancements in cancer and heart research.

Bush doesn't care about those things though. He only wants to cater to the extreme right to gain back their support in the hopes he will not end up a lame duck come November. That is all this about.

posted July 19, 2006 10:39 PM            

quote:

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to completely halt stem research...

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Umm, been reading a bit about it, from what I can read, stem cell research is still very much legal. The bill he vetoed would have expanded federal funding.

"The bill would have lifted rules set by Bush in 2001 making federal funds available only for research on a small number of embryonic stem cell lines which existed at that time" (AFP/Stephanie Griffith)