ch: Conservative ‘Values’

Coleman and Santorum Offer Sham Stem-Cell Bill

Yesterday, Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman confirmed he would not support a Senate bill that would expand funding for embryonic stem cell research. Instead, Coleman will support a bill by Sen. Rick Santorum which would use adult stem cells rather than embryonic stem cells.

What would the alternative bill do? Nothing. In fact, the Republican proposal is simply a way to make it seem like anti-science politicians are moving forward on stem cell research. Sean Tipton of the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research, a non-partisan coalition consisting of groups like the American Diabetes Association, American Medical Association and Johns Hopkins Medical School, noted Santorum and Coleman’s position wouldn’t do anything for scientists:

“The Santorum bill changes policy not one bit,” he said. “It has no policy impact whatsoever.” Tipton said the NIH is already funding such research.

Stem cells can divide and become any kind of cell in the body. Because harvesting embryonic stem cells destroys embryos, President Bush and many other conservatives equate the process with abortion and view it as immoral. Proponents say the promise that stem cell research holds for treating and curing diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s outweighs the ethical concerns.

The public overwhelmingly supports embryonic stem cell research: 72 percent in the latest poll, up from 68% in 2005.

On the issue of ethics and stem cells, read this: an interview with stem cell researcher Mark Noble. Part of the interview:

There is a serious ethical debate here, and I think one has to divide it into segments to do it justice. The first question for me is: does any religious group have the right to impose its belief upon everyone else in the country?

[Some of the objections to stem-cell research come from people who believe that life begins once an egg has been fertilized and starts to undergo division. Actually, as the egg divides, it forms a ball of cells called a blastocyst. Inside the blastocyst are embryonic stem cells.]

If we simply look at when life begins, this is a very fuzzy concept. If the blastocyst doesn’t implant to the uterus wall, you have no pregnancy. And the estimations are that between 40 and 80 percent of all blastocysts are simply washed out in the menstrual flow. We don’t have this huge effort to save the blastocysts to reverse this, and we do put so much effort into rescuing premature babies. So on some level we know there is a difference here.

Here’s a thought experiment: You’re standing outside an in vitro fertilization clinic. In there is a liquid nitrogen tank, and in it are 10,000 stored blastocysts, which is what you use for in vitro fertilization. And there is a fire. Trapped in that room is one child. Who are you going to rescue? I have never met a person who would rescue the nitrogen tank. But if these people were true to their views, they have to take the position that there were 10,000 lives to one life, and they would have to rescue the tank. There is a difference.