March 31, 2006
Editorial
The States Confront Stem Cells nyt)
Maryland will become the fourth state to authorize the use of state funds to support embryonic stem cell research, now that the governor, a Republican, has pledged to sign a bill approved this week by the legislature, which is controlled by Democrats. Maryland will thus join California, New Jersey and Connecticut in recognizing that the federal government's abdication of support for embryonic stem cell research has effectively shifted the issue to the states.
President Bush has authorized federal funds for research on only a limited number of embryonic stem cell lines, and Congress has been too hamstrung by fights between research advocates and social conservatives to expand support beyond that. No federal money can be used for therapeutic cloning, the most promising area of research. Privately financed research is an option, but the government makes that difficult at sites where other scientists work with federally financed equipment.
Individual states have been chiming in with their own policies, which range from a farsighted determination to finance the restricted research with state money to truly awful decisions to treat scientists as criminals if they dare to do therapeutic cloning. South Dakota bans all research on embryonic stem cells, and a few other states ban therapeutic cloning. Several states, however, authorize state funds for both embryonic stem cell research and therapeutic cloning. California's $3 billion 10-year program, currently stalled by a court challenge, dwarfs New Jersey's and Connecticut's programs. Maryland's small program will use only embryos that would otherwise be discarded by fertility clinics, not embryos generated for therapeutic cloning.
At first many states seemed headed toward restrictive policies, but then the academic and business communities threw their weight behind research that they believe could ultimately lead to new therapies and possibly new companies to exploit the findings. In some places, the result is a mishmash of conflicting approaches. In Wisconsin, where scientists have been pioneers in the development of embryonic stem cell lines, Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat, vetoed a bill — passed late last year by the Legislature, which is dominated by Republicans — that would have made therapeutic cloning a criminal offense punishable by up to 10 years in jail. He has instead embarked on a drive to recruit stem cell companies for Wisconsin, with a goal of capturing 10 percent of the stem cell industry by 2015.
This piecemeal state-by-state approach is an absurd way to conduct research that may have extraordinary importance if it pans out. Few residents of states that ban therapeutic cloning will refuse lifesaving therapies developed in other states. So it seems unfair to rely on a handful of states to fill the gaps left by the federal abdication. There is growing sentiment in Congress that the range of stem cell research eligible for federal funds needs to be expanded. We agree, and urge that therapeutic cloning be included in that expansion. |
