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The president's stem cell dilemma

In opposing a bipartisan congressional attempt to expand embryonic stem cell research, President Bush is offering an unusual ethical calibration. "This bill would take us across a critical ethical line," Bush told reporters, "by creating new incentives for the ongoing destruction of emerging human life."

New incentives for ongoing destruction? Leave aside the question of whether week-old multicell embryos in petri dishes constitute human life. The bill that passed the House Tuesday with 50 Republican votes draws the line well short of new incentives. It would authorize federal money for research only on existing embryos, kept in in vitro fertilization clinics, that are slated to be destroyed. Those embryos would have to have been created for the purpose of pregnancy, not research. The owners would have to agree to donate them for research and receive no money in return.

In that sense, the bill is ethically neutral. It does not allow human embryos to be created for the purpose of federally financed research. It merely uses those that would otherwise be destroyed. Further, the process that leads to the embryo destruction, in vitro fertilization, has been embraced by the president. He says it "helps so many couples conceive children."

No one seriously questions the medical potential of mining stem cells. The cells can multiply on their own, possibly generating healthy bone and blood and nerve tissues. The potential for helping cure such diseases as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's is one reason former first lady Nancy Reagan has become a leading spokeswoman for the research. It's also a reason some House members rose to support the federal research.

"For me, prolife also means fighting for policies that will eliminate pain and suffering," said Rep. James Langevin, D-R.I., a quadriplegic confined to a wheelchair. "To me, embryonic stem cell research is entirely consistent with that position."

The bill now moves to the Senate, where bipartisan support and passage also seem likely. That leaves Bush, who is threatening what would be his first presidential veto, with his own political quandary. The reality is that tens of thousands of embryos are discarded in fertilization clinics across the nation every year. How would using some of them to cure disease cross an ethical line?

[Last modified May 27, 2005, 20:21:02]