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Friday, 10 August, 2001, 06:09 GMT 07:09 UK
Bush backs stem cell research
![]() Some opponents wanted a total ban on funding
US President George W Bush has approved federal funding for limited medical research on stem cells extracted from human
embryos.
Mr Bush said finance would be restricted to existing stem cell lines from embryos that had already been destroyed. In the first nationally-televised speech of his presidency, he said he had come down in favour of funding because of the potential for new cures for chronic diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's - from which many millions of Americans suffer. The BBC's Paul Reynolds in Washington says the move is a break from the total opposition Mr Bush expressed during the election campaign, but is the most restricted one he could probably have taken given his pro-life position. "I have made this decision with great care and I pray it is the right one," Mr Bush said. "This allows us to explore the promise and potential of stem cell research without crossing a fundamental moral line by providing taxpayer funding that would sanction or encourage further destruction of human embryos that have at least the potential for life."
When properly nurtured, the cells are able to replicate themselves, creating what is called a stem cell line that provides continuing opportunities for research. Mr Bush's decision means that no federal funds will be spent on research on stem cells from newly destroyed embryos, nor will it allow the creation of any human embryos for research purposes or the cloning of humans to make embryos. The president, an opponent of abortion, said it was important that "we pay attention to the moral concerns of the new frontier". 'Morally unacceptable'
A key Catholic conservative group was quick to criticise the decision.
The National Right to Life Committee said it was "delighted" federal government would no longer "be a party to any further killing of human embryos for medical experimentation." Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy, who backs the research, said the decision was "an important step forward", but did not go far enough. That was a view backed by many scientists, although there was relief that at least some stem cell research would go forward with federal funds. Advice from Pope Mr Bush announced that he was creating a president's council - led by conservative biomedical ethicist Leon Kass of the University of Chicago - to monitor the research and recommend guidelines and regulations. Other ethicists, scientists, doctors, lawyers and theologians will also be named to the council. Mr Bush did not allow what many scientists were looking for - the "harvesting" of stem cells from some of the 100,000 embryos frozen in laboratories across the US. The president deliberated for months on the issue, taking advice from bioethicists, lawmakers, and even Pope John Paul II. Mr Bush made his speech from his Texas ranch, far from the White House where opponents of stem cell research had marched earlier in the day.
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