President's veto of embryonic research funding reflects incoherent policy

COMMENTARY
By Arthur Caplan, Ph.D.
MSNBC contributor
Emanuel & Robert Hart Professor of Bioethics
Chair, Department of Medical Ethics
and
Director
Center for Bioethics
University of Pennsylvania
3401 Market St. Suite 320
Phila PA 19104-3308
http://bioethics.upenn.edu


President Bush's embryonic stem cell policy began with lies and has now ended with one.

Bush reserved his first veto as president for one of the only valuable things this do-almost-nothing Congress has managed to actually get done. With a flourish of a veto pen that has remained dormant no matter how dopey Congress has been, the Senate bill allowing public funding of embryonic stem cell research has been consigned to the legislative trash can.

An administration that has shown itself over and over again to have trouble telling the truth is now telling Americans in wheelchairs, those with damaged hearts, babies who are diabetic and those left immobile by Parkinsonism not to worry. The president, whose grasp of science left him unable to identify creationism as a fundamentally religious idea, and his trusty sidekick Karl Rove, rarely seen in a white lab coat but who knows something about rats, having been in Washington for some time now, claim to know best which medical research is most likely to benefit diseased Americans in the future.

When Bush uttered his first confused words on the subject of embryonic stem cell research five years ago in August 2001, he said that he was opposed to embryonic stem cell research since it involved the destruction of human life.

He noted that there were embryos, and many of them, already in existence in infertility clinics and left unwanted by those who created them. But he held it was wrong to use those in research. Instead, he told us, he had found a way out of the dilemma of how to do embryonic stem cell research without destroying any embryos.
What had Bush figured out that no one in the scientific community could see then and remains unable to see now?

There were, he said, 60 stem cell lines that had been made from embryos which held "great promise that could lead to breakthrough therapies and cures." If he gave federal money to support research on those lines and funded research on adult stem cells, such as bone marrow, fetal blood cells taken from umbilical cords and other adult stem cells found in skin, muscle and the intestine, then all would be well.

Wrong science, flawed ethics
The president's supporters, a much larger set then than now, blessed his insight and his wisdom in producing a marvelous "compromise" and pronounced the quandary over stem cell research resolved.
Except, as even the president must have known and some of his most vocal supporters knew, the president was talking through his hat.

There were never 60 embryonic stem cell lines available for research. Not even close. Even if there had been, that number would never have been enough to support serious research on diseases and disorders for very long, as experts in embryonic stem cell research found out in less than a year.
Not only was Bush's science wrong, the ethics behind his so-called compromise were deeply flawed, too.

If the president deemed it moral to use cell lines made from human embryos that had already been destroyed, then why would he argue that other embryos headed inevitably for destruction couldn't be the source of new stem cell lines?
In fact, if the president was so concerned about the fate of embryos, why did he not speak out to close infertility programs around the country that destroy embryos? Why did he not try to shut down privately funded embryonic stem cell research? And, if the president was so worried about destructive embryo research, why did he not propose a ban on bringing across our borders any cure or therapy that might be discovered overseas if it was based on embryonic stem cell research?

If adult stem cell research were really an alternative to embryonic, then why have nearly all but the tiniest handful of the experts who work on stem cells maintained that this is false? And why has the president failed to secure the agreement of a single medical or scientific society of any standing with his position that a combination of funding a small number of existing stem cell lines made from human embryos and a push behind adult stem cell research is the best strategy to mend damaged brains and heal broken spinal cords?

Evidence that the president's views rest firmly on a foundation of deception layered with a rich mix of confusion and inconsistency is to be found in the enthusiasm with which Britain, China, India, Israel, Australia, Russia, Sweden, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, Singapore, Korea, South Africa, France and many other nations have launched embryonic stem cell research programs.

The only people who continue to put faith in the policy of promoting government funding for only adult stem cell research that the president is still babbling on about are the president, his close advisors, some conservative groups motivated by deeply-held religious views concerning embryos and a few neoconservative polemicists who seem desperate to find an issue that might bring them redemption after doing such a fine job contributing to the design of American foreign policy under Bush.

Sending a clear message
With his veto of the bill creating federal funding and regulation over embryonic stem cell research, the president continues to ask us and, more notably, those who are sick and ailing amongst us, to swallow a false, morally incoherent policy.

Not too long after the president's first speech on the subject, the sick and ailing recognized the president was not wise, but rather wacky, and decided to do something about it. With the help of high-profile efforts involving Nancy Reagan, Christopher Reeve, Mary Tyler Moore, Michael J. Fox and a less visible but incredibly committed and hugely influential phalanx of disease advocacy organizations a sound policy about embryonic stem cell research was articulated.

The policy to permit closely monitored federal funding swung hearts and minds in both houses of Congress. Governors and state legislators and, yes, even those in the media began to understand that the only sensible strategy in the battle against disease, infirmity, disability and death is to put the chips of public funding behind all forms of stem cell research - embryonic and adult.

With his veto the president has now reaffirmed a policy that never made any sense, garnered no scientific support to speak of, was abandoned by both houses of Congress and the leaders of his own party and, most importantly, got no traction with those most in need of the benefits of the research - patients and their families.

The President has now told doctors, researchers and patients to drop dead. Science policy in the Bush administration is best made in the White House, not by scientists and not by Congress.

ALERT: Fax Congress -- Demand an Override of the Bush Veto

To keep it short and sweet, so you can take action as soon as possible:

1) HR 810 passed the Senate with 63 votes

2) President Bush has used his veto — his first ever use of the presidential veto

3) Congress is debating RIGHT NOW whether to override it.

Our friends at DefCon have set up a page to send your message to Congress, to demand an override. Go there now, and send your message:
http://ga3.org/campaign/stem_cell_override_web

Mark Felling's note to Bush... Bush's message to Americans: "Drop dead!"-quite literally

RE: Bush veto of HR 810 - The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act

 

Thank you Mr. Bush for knowing what is best for me and 100 million Americans, over one third of the US population, that would all have the potential to benefit immediately from this research!  It's a good thing you know more than your advisers, all of the most intelligent, knowledgeable scientists and doctors, and have a more tuned ethical compass than many of our nation's wisest spiritual leaders!  And as you said to the fellow in Florida at your Medicare rally, I'm so damn "comfortable in my wheelchair" I wouldn't know what to do without it! 

 

Since you think wheelchairs look so comfortable [comments to disabled wheelchair user at Florida Medicare rally], you'd be surprised what a power wheelchair can do running into your knees do when it's parked on your feet.  Thank you Mr. Bush, if you had signed this legislation I might be able to someday get out of my wheelchair and I wouldn't know what to do without it I'm so comfortable! I hope you think twice before you come down from your high and mighty purge next time to lean over for a photo op next to someone in a wheelchair!

 

Since you think other unproven theoretical technologies are perfectly valid substitute, I hope if you ever need a heart transplant you won't mind if they replace it with the horses ass!  I'm sure the constrictions of the horses colon can pump your blood just as well as a heart!

-Mark Felling

 

ALERT: Fax Congress -- Demand an Override of the Bush Veto To keep it short and sweet, so you can take action as soon as possible: 1) HR 810 passed the Senate with 63 votes 2) President Bush has used his veto — his first ever use of the presidential veto 3) Congress is debating RIGHT NOW whether to override it. Our friends at DefCon have set up a page to send your message to Congress, to demand an override.  Go there now, and send your message: http://ga3.org/campaign/stem_cell_override_web

Thank you Mr. IM RAMSTAD!

RAMSTAD VOTES TO OVERRIDE BUSH VETO OF STEM CELL RESEARCH BILL

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Jim Ramstad (MN-03) today voted to override President Bush's veto of federal funding for research on stem cells from donated surplus embryos created by in-vitro fertilization.

"It's a sad day for 100 million Americans suffering from deadly diseases and disabilities who could benefit from surplus embryonic stem cells that will now be discarded," said Ramstad.

"As the result of the President's veto, 400,000 surplus embryos at fertility clinics will be thrown into the garbage as medical waste, instead of being used to produce stem cells for research to save lives," said Ramstad.

"The scientific evidence is overwhelming that embryonic stem cells have great potential to regenerate specific types of human tissues, offering hope for millions of Americans devastated by diabetes, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, Lou Gehrig's disease and spinal cord paralysis, as well as some cancers and other deadly diseases," said Ramstad.

"The President's veto is a huge step backward for medical research and a real blow to millions of Americans counting on this life-saving research," said Ramstad.

Sincerely,

JIM RAMSTAD
Member of Congress

President's veto of embryonic research funding reflects incoherent policy

 

COMMENTARY
By Arthur Caplan, Ph.D.

MSNBC contributor
Emanuel & Robert Hart Professor of Bioethics
Chair, Department of Medical Ethics
    and
Director
Center for Bioethics
University of Pennsylvania
3401 Market St. Suite 320
Phila PA 19104-3308
http://bioethics.upenn.edu

President Bush's embryonic stem cell policy began with lies and has now ended with one. 

Bush reserved his first veto as president for one of the only valuable things this do-almost-nothing Congress has managed to actually get done. With a flourish of a veto pen that has remained dormant no matter how dopey Congress has been, the Senate bill allowing public funding of embryonic stem cell research has been consigned to the legislative trash can.

An administration that has shown itself over and over again to have trouble telling the truth is now telling Americans in wheelchairs, those with damaged hearts, babies who are diabetic and those left immobile by Parkinsonism not to worry. The president, whose grasp of science left him unable to identify creationism as a fundamentally religious idea, and his trusty sidekick Karl Rove, rarely seen in a white lab coat but who knows something about rats, having been in Washington for some time now, claim to know best which medical research is most likely to benefit diseased Americans in the future.

When Bush uttered his first confused words on the subject of embryonic stem cell research five years ago in August 2001, he said that he was opposed to embryonic stem cell research since it involved the destruction of human life.
He noted that there were embryos, and many of them, already in existence in infertility clinics and left unwanted by those who created them. But he held it was wrong to use those in research. Instead, he told us, he had found a way out of the dilemma of how to do embryonic stem cell research without destroying any embryos.

What had Bush figured out that no one in the scientific community could see then and remains unable to see now?
There were, he said, 60 stem cell lines that had been made from embryos which held "great promise that could lead to breakthrough therapies and cures." If he gave federal money to support research on those lines and funded research on adult stem cells, such as bone marrow, fetal blood cells taken from umbilical cords and other adult stem cells found in skin, muscle and the intestine, then all would be well. 
Wrong science, flawed ethics
The president's supporters, a much larger set then than now, blessed his insight and his wisdom in producing a marvelous "compromise" and pronounced the quandary over stem cell research resolved. 

Except, as even the president must have known and some of his most vocal supporters knew, the president was talking through his hat.

There were never 60 embryonic stem cell lines available for research. Not even close. Even if there had been, that number would never have been enough to support serious research on diseases and disorders for very long, as experts in embryonic stem cell research found out in less than a year. 
Not only was Bush's science wrong, the ethics behind his so-called compromise were deeply flawed, too.

If the president deemed it moral to use cell lines made from human embryos that had already been destroyed, then why would he argue that other embryos headed inevitably for destruction couldn't be the source of new stem cell lines? 
In fact, if the president was so concerned about the fate of embryos, why did he not speak out to close infertility programs around the country that destroy embryos? Why did he not try to shut down privately funded embryonic stem cell research? And, if the president was so worried about destructive embryo research, why did he not propose a ban on bringing across our borders any cure or therapy that might be discovered overseas if it was based on embryonic stem cell research?

If adult stem cell research were really an alternative to embryonic, then why have nearly all but the tiniest handful of the experts who work on stem cells maintained that this is false? And why has the president failed to secure the agreement of a single medical or scientific society of any standing with his position that a combination of funding a small number of existing stem cell lines made from human embryos and a push behind adult stem cell research is the best strategy to mend damaged brains and heal broken spinal cords?

Evidence that the president's views rest firmly on a foundation of deception layered with a rich mix of confusion and inconsistency is to be found in the enthusiasm with which Britain, China, India, Israel, Australia, Russia, Sweden, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, Singapore, Korea, South Africa, France and many other nations have launched embryonic stem cell research programs.

The only people who continue to put faith in the policy of promoting government funding for only adult stem cell research that the president is still babbling on about are the president, his close advisors, some conservative groups motivated by deeply-held religious views concerning embryos and a few neoconservative polemicists who seem desperate to find an issue that might bring them redemption after doing such a fine job contributing to the design of American foreign policy under Bush.

Sending a clear message
With his veto of the bill creating federal funding and regulation over embryonic stem cell research, the president continues to ask us and, more notably, those who are sick and ailing amongst us, to swallow a false, morally incoherent policy.

Not too long after the president's first speech on the subject, the sick and ailing recognized the president was not wise, but rather wacky, and decided to do something about it. With the help of high-profile efforts involving Nancy Reagan, Christopher Reeve, Mary Tyler Moore, Michael J. Fox and a less visible but incredibly committed and hugely influential phalanx of disease advocacy organizations a sound policy about embryonic stem cell research was articulated.

The policy to permit closely monitored federal funding swung hearts and minds in both houses of Congress. Governors and state legislators and, yes, even those in the media began to understand that the only sensible strategy in the battle against disease, infirmity, disability and death is to put the chips of public funding behind all forms of stem cell research - embryonic and adult.

With his veto the president has now reaffirmed a policy that never made any sense, garnered no scientific support to speak of, was abandoned by both houses of Congress and the leaders of his own party and, most importantly, got no traction with those most in need of the benefits of the research - patients and their families.

The President has now told doctors, researchers and patients to drop dead. Science policy in the Bush administration is best made in the White House, not by scientists and not by Congress.

 

FRIST ANNOUNCES STEM CELL VOTE SCHEDULE

Call your senators and a few from other states Now!  We need a large enough majority to overturn "the dipshit's" declared veto.

 

---

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                Amy Call (202) 224-1865

July 12, 2006                                                                           Bob Stevenson (202) 224-4445

                                                                                                Carolyn Weyforth (202) 224-9346

 

FRIST ANNOUNCES STEM CELL VOTE SCHEDULE

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D., (R-Tenn.) today announced the following schedule for voting on stem cell legislation (S. 3504, S. 2754, and H.R. 810):

 

"The Senate will take up the three stem cell bills on Monday, July 17, and will complete all action by Tuesday, July 18.  There's tremendous promise in stem cell research, and I've worked long and hard with my colleagues to bring this serious ethical issue to the floor in a way that encourages thoughtful discussion and deliberation."

 

 

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