In Missouri, GOP is riven over embryonic stem-cell research
By Alan Scher Zagier, Globe Correspondent | April 10, 2005
boston.com
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- In January, the Missouri Republican Party gained control of both branches of the state legislature, as well as the governor's mansion. Such a political alignment had not been seen in 84 years.
Among Republicans, early-year expectations of a conservative agenda have been replaced by angst, as a proposal -- to ban a form of embryonic stem-cell research involving cloning -- pits two core constituencies against each other: Forces opposed to abortion are squaring off against business leaders seeking to nurture scientific and medical research industries in Missouri.
Last week, the Missouri Senate shelved a bill that would have banned somatic cell nuclear transfer, or so-called therapeutic cloning. That process is opposed by many, including Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, because they believe it involves creating a human life to destroy it.
Supporters of therapeutic cloning, which is used to harvest stem cells for research, argue that the egg cell used in the procedure is never fertilized and that it will not be implanted in a uterus, so human life is not being created.
State senators debated the measure for six hours without resolution last week. The bill's sponsor, Matt Bartle of suburban Kansas City, resisted calls to compromise or, as some Republicans would have preferred, to drop the proposal entirely.
''It became obvious to me awhile ago that there is more than enough political will to kill this bill," Bartle said in floor debate.
The anti-cloning measure has attracted an array of high-profile opponents, from former US Senator and UN ambassador John Danforth and researchers at Washington University St. Louis to civic and business leaders in Kansas City and the president of the University of Missouri system in Columbia.
Dr. William Nieves, a self-described ''born-again Christian" who heads the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, has told legislators that the institute, which is endowed with more than $2 billion, will forgo an expansion and seek out a location ''more favorable to stem cell research" should the anti-cloning measure pass.
''I completely reject the belief that a few cells in a Petri dish are a human being," Nieves said. ''People have become convinced this is a moral and appropriate way to search for cures to human diseases."
Caught in the middle is Matt Blunt, 34, the new governor, who was viewed as the antiabortion candidate last fall. The son of the US House majority whip, Roy Blunt, Governor Blunt opposes Bartle's measure and favors a ban on human cloning for reproductive purposes. Political observers say that opposition is at the heart of legislators' reluctance to embrace the anti-cloning measure.
''He does not believe it should ban somatic cell nuclear transfer," said Spence Jackson, a Blunt spokesman. ''He believes we should ban reproductive cloning. He believes life science research is vitally important to the future of Missouri's economy. And that is a concern of his in this debate."
Supporters of embryonic stem cell research say adult stem cells offer only limited research prospects, whereas embryonic stem cell research has the potential to combat specific diseases and perhaps even ailments from individual to individual.
Even as the anti-cloning bill lingers in the legislature, word of the proposal is spreading beyond Missouri and hindering efforts to realize that vision, Nieves said. As an example, he cited efforts to recruit two scientists from the Harvard Stem Cell Institute who are hesitant over the possible legal limits their research could face.
''We see the proposed legislation as a threat that would undermine all of our efforts to build a life-sciences industry," said Donn Rubin, executive director of the Coalition for Plant and Life Sciences in St. Louis. ''It would really cut off all of our efforts."
Rubin is also chairman of the Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures, an alliance of more than 60 state and national business, civic, academic, and research groups created to fight the Bartle bill.
Last week's Senate hearing offered a warts-and-all look at the battles in the Missouri Republican Party, with a series of avowed anti-abortion politicians describing the political risks they face by opposing the anti-cloning measure.
''I understand the political realities could cost me my Senate seat," said Senator John Griesheimer, who is against the proposal but said party loyalty would compel him to vote in favor it if it reaches the floor.
Griesheimer was one of many GOP senators fretting over the lack of unity. ''I know the Democrats are salivating over this whole thing," he said. ''It's sad we are fighting among ourselves."
Bartle's staunchest supporters hail from the Missouri Right to Life and the Missouri Catholic Conference. Leaders of both groups assert that the creation and destruction of human embryos in the name of research is no different than the destruction of human life.
They, too, expect political repercussions against anti-abortion Republicans who do not support the anti-cloning bill.
''We were very disappointed this bill didn't come up for an ultimate vote," said Larry Weber, executive director of the Missouri Catholic Conference. ''This is the preeminent threat to early human life we're now facing in our society.
''Many prolife citizens of this state recognize human cloning for what it is," he continued. ''That will probably be something they will carry with them into the voting booth next election."
Roger Wilson, a former Missouri governor who now chairs the state Democratic Party, said that the groups opposed to abortion around the state have ample reason to be angry.
''They've been used like a crowbar for the past two decades in Missouri elections," he said.
''And," Wilson added, ''the Republican Party was willing to use them. I think they've just dropped that group on their head."
While the debate is largely settled in Massachusetts, where legislators have endorsed embryonic stem cell research over Romney's objections, Wilson said he expects the internal rancor on display among Missouri Republicans to play out in state capitals throughout the country.
''I think this will have a political effect in every state," he said. ''This will create the same . . . conflict in other states." |
