Introduction

Over 3,000 people die every day in the United States from diseases that may someday be treatable as a result of stem cell research. Stem cells are sometimes called the body's "universal clay" because they are capable of transforming into any type of cell or tissue. Scientists believe that these cells could be used to treat a large number of diseases, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, heart disease, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, and stroke. In his 1998 testimony before the Senate, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Harold Varmus noted that "it is not too unrealistic to say that [stem cell] research has the potential to revolutionize the practice of medicine and improve the quality and length of life." ¹

Despite this tremendous potential, president Bush and many anti-abortion members of Congress have effectively forbidden federally funded research for stem cells derived from unused embryos that are created at fertility clinics. In 1994, then Rep. Jay Dickey (R-Ark.) sponsored an appropriations rider that continues to ban funding for any research that destroys an embryo, even leftover embryos at fertility clinics that will never be implanted for pregnancy and that are slated to be destroyed anyway. In 1999, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a legal opinion that the Dickey amendment did not prohibit federal funding of embryonic stem cell research as long as the cells were derived, and thus the embryos were destroyed, with private funds; NIH subsequently developed guidelines for research funding that met the conditions of the legal opinion. President Bush, as one of his first official acts, ordered a review of the HHS legal opinion that has halted all federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. This review is ongoing and has no timetable for completion, although the White House insists that a decision is imminent.

The opposition to research on embryonic stem cells is of a piece with unconditional opposition to abortion; those who oppose such research maintain that life begins at the moment of fertilization and that no tradeoffs of any kind can be made between destruction of leftover embryos and research that could lead to major medical advances. Many more Americans, however, are unsure whether embryos at this very early stage of development constitute human life and therefore make such decisions in the context of uncertainty. Since the leftover embryos are scheduled for destruction in any case, and since research on those embryos could save millions of lives, we believe that the moral weight falls in favor of stem cell research.² President Bush's decision to block the carefully considered and widely endorsed NIH guidelines, on the other hand, clearly was designed to placate anti-abortion activists. Some observers believe that this "review" is the first step in a federal policy that bans all federally funded research into embryonic stem cells and concentrates on adult stem cells found in some tissues in the human body, which for a number of reasons are less available, less suitable, and less promising than embryonic stem cells.

President Bush's action, along with the Dickey amendment, has given the anti-abortion lobby a veto over scientific progress, the research that may save the lives and ease the suffering of millions of Americans. Because of the tremendous lifesaving potential of embryonic stem cell research, PPI believes:

• The White House should end its politically motivated interference with the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health by immediately ending the review of and upholding the HHS legal opinion, and by allowing NIH to reinstate its guidelines and begin federal funding of research on embryonic stem cells.
• The federal government should fund stem cell research at robust levels.
• Congress should repeal the Dickey amendment and allow federally funded researchers to derive their own stem cells from discarded embryos rather than force them to use stem cells that were derived in private laboratories.
• The organizations that have oversight authority over embryonic stem cell research should stay actively involved in research to make sure it is conducted in an ethical and scientifically rigorous manner.