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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: PROLIFE who wrote (169452)	8/9/2001 3:31:17 PM
From: calgal	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

Bush to Announce Decision on Stem-Cell Research Thursday, August 09, 2001 After months of deliberations, President Bush will announce his decision Thursday night on whether to allow federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. Bush intends to disclose his decision in a 9 p.m. EDT nationally televised address from his ranch, where he is spending a month on vacation. The address will be broadcast on the Fox News Channel and other networks. Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer said the speech would run about eight to 10 minutes. "The president has carefully considered the scientific and ethical issues involved," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. "This is a decision that will have far-reaching implications for our nation 20 to 30 years from now and beyond." "I am fairly comfortable with the decision that the president is going to make and I'm very confident that the American people will be as well," Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said on ABC's Good Morning America of one of the biggest decisions of Bush's presidency. Thompson has been pushing the president to let the research go forward, but has maintained he would support whatever decision the president made. At issue is federal support for research on cells extracted from embryos that are left over from fertility treatments. Supporters of such research see great potential for medical breakthroughs; opponents insist it is wrong to use human embryos for research because it requires the deliberate destruction of human life. In order to remove the stem cell, the embryo must be destroyed. Scientists say that embryonic stem cells are capable of developing into any of the body's organs. These cells form inside an embryo a few days after fertilization. By properly nurturing embryonic stem cells, experts say, they believe they can grow new cells to restore ailing organs in chronically ill patients. For instance, new insulin-producing cells could be grown, perhaps to cure diabetes. But some opponents of embryonic stem cell research say that researchers could simply use stem cells harvested from adults, or from umbilical cords, and thus avoid destroying embryos. Many of them support studying somatic stem cells, which are made by mature tissue. But there is a debate over whether somatic stem cells are as flexible or as long-lived as embryonic stem cells. Many scientists advocate research on both types. As suspense mounted over the last several months, White House aides described the president as deeply engaged in the scientific and ethical issues involved, carefully weighing the issue and seeking a wide range of advice. McClellan said Bush met with dozens of experts with differing opinions and reached his decision Tuesday. Despite the political stakes, the White House has discounted the role of politics in his deliberations. "The president does not make decisions by polls," McClellan said. "His focus was on the scientific issues involved, the ethical issues involved." Bush has wrestled for months with whether to allow the funding, conferring with a list of experts on the scientific, ethical and religious implications of the research. He has insisted that political considerations were not part of his deliberations. But his announcement is sure to please and disappoint crucial blocs of the electorate. Some self-described anti-abortion Republicans such as Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah and Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina have called for federal funding of such research because of the potential payoff in treatment of a number of diseases. Congress has banned funding for research that destroys embryos, but the Clinton administration ruled that the stem cell research was eligible as long as the cells were extracted from the embryos with private money. Bush has delayed such funding while the policy is reviewed. "It's an important decision for the entire country," McClellan said. "Decisions like this involve science, involve ethics. ... They are far-reaching and they are profound." Even before Bush spoke, it was clear his decision was unlikely to be the last word on the issue. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., told reporters that if Bush does not permit federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, the Senate will debate legislation on the subject this fall. He said there is a broad bipartisan majority in the Senate for federal funding. The Associated Press contributed to this report foxnews.com