Lawmakers, public unsure about stem cell research

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July 2001

Lawmakers, public unsure about stem cell rsearch
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Lawmakers, public unsure about stem cell research
Should the government fund medical research that inevitably destroys human embryos? The president and members of Congress are confronting that question now, and they're not even sure how most Americans would answer it.

Two bills dealing with embryonic stem cell research currently wait in Congress. The first, introduced by Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), would allow the federal government to finance experiments on cells derived from donated embryos created during in-vitro fertilization procedures. The excess embryos of such procedures, which are only a few days old, would be destroyed during the research. They are otherwise discarded.

The second bill, introduced by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), would increase federal funding for stem cell research that does not involve the destruction of embryos but would recover stem cells from adult, "differentiated" cells. The stem cells can be taken from adults, miscarried infants, placentas, and umbilical cord blood.

The National Conference of Catholic Bishops opposes the first bill, calling any creation and destruction of human embryos for research or organ or tissue creation immoral.

How the lawmakers will vote remains unclear at this point, especially because several pro-life Republicans say the destruction of embryos for research is fundamentally different than abortion and are coming out in favor of research that employs human embryos. In a letter to the president, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) insisted embryonic research is "consistent with bedrock, pro-life, pro-family values." He said a frozen embryo that will otherwise be thrown away is not equivalent to an embryo developing in the womb. Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-SC) supports federal spending on embryonic stem cell research because he says it has the potential to save lives.

President Bush has not yet announced a position on the issue, but recent reports hint he may be shying away from allowing federal money to used in embryonic research. His secretary of health and human services, Tommy Thompson, supports the research.

Complicating matters for lawmakers are a series of contradictory surveys on the subject.

The Coalition for Advancement of Medical Research (CAMR), a group formed in March to advocate embryonic stem cell research, sponsored a survey in May that found 70 percent of Americans support such experimentation. Catholics support the research by more than 3 to 1, the survey found, and fundamentalist Christians by nearly 2.5 to 1. Yet critics charge the group skewed survey results by describing an embryo as a "fertilized egg."

"Perhaps they use this scientifically absurd euphemism out of fear that many Americans recognize a 'human embryo' as a human life," says Richard Doerflinger, associate director for policy development at the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities.

The NCCB commissioned its own survey in June. Its results show that only 24 percent of Americans support federal funding for embryonic research and 70 percent oppose it—a complete reversal from the CAMR poll. In the NCCB survey, questioners used the term "human embryo" instead of "fertilized egg," but they also presented respondents with arguments against the embryonic research. They did not include arguments in support of it.

Stem cells, the all-purpose building blocks of human tissue, have the ability to become any cell in the body. Scientists believe they could revolutionize treatments for Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, and countless other conditions. They exist in both embryos and in adult cells, but most research has so far focused on embryonic cells. New studies, however, show adult cells may be as versatile as embryonic cells.

Under the Clinton administration, federally-funded researchers could not themselves take stem cells from embryos, but they could conduct experiments using embryonic cells obtained by others.—Anne Graber

For more info:
McDermott's stem cell research bill
Specter's stem cell research bill
Smith's stem cell research bill
Coalition for Advancement of Medical Research
NCCB's Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities
NCCB's stem cell research poll
NCCB's statements on bioethics and reproductive technologies
Stem cells: an NIH primer
Do No Harm
Catholics call for an end to embryonic stem cell research—from Salt of the Earth
Unnatural selection: How biotechnology is redesigning humanity—from U.S. Catholic

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