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George Orwell Bush: The Latest Stem Cell Veto
By Lee Silver, Ph.D.
For the second time in less than a year, President George W. Bush has taken his veto pen to a Congressional bill that would have authorized federal financing for the development of new embryonic stem (ES) cell lines. The legislation would have allowed the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to consider grant proposals from biomedical scientists to perform research on discarded, fertility clinic embryos (not fetuses) currently frozen solid in tanks of liquid nitrogen. The goal of this research is not -- as the President claims -- to "destroy" or "harm" human life; indeed, during the transformation of embryos into ES cells, life is maintained rather than destroyed.
Scientists have good evidence from studies in animals and preliminary work on human cells that dedicated ES cell research could yield novel therapeutic treatments for a whole range of tissue and organ disease and dysfunction. Adult stem cells are, by definition, more restricted in their potential than embryonic cells. Ideally, federally funded stem cell scientists would like to perform research without having one hand tied behind their backs -- in the case of some diseases, adult stem cells may be sufficient, but in other instances, ES cells will be required to make progress.
A majority of the American public -- Democrats, Republicans, and Independents -- have come to appreciate the therapeutic potential offered by ES cell research, and they support the funding of carefully vetted experiments in this area. (Ironically, as the law currently stands, ES cell research in most states is restricted to private companies who are not bound by NIH rules concerning transparency and ethically-informed protocols.) Acutely aware of the fact that his veto did not represent the will of the American people, President Bush sought distraction in a highly choreographed announcement (with a requisite sick child by his side) of an Executive Order directing NIH to "conduct and support research" on adult stem cells. But NIH already funds adult stem cell research, and since the Executive Order did not commit any new funding, it is devoid of any policy meaning.
The Executive Order did, however, attempt a singular political sleight-of-hand. Back in August 2001, when the President first considered stem cell policy, he enacted a compromise that allowed funding for research on a limited number of embryonic stem cells that had been previously derived. These cell lines (far fewer and less useful than originally claimed) were collected into the "Human Embryonic Stem Cell Registry" for distribution to qualified scientists. The establishment of the registry infuriated those members of the President's political base who rejected all research on anything "embryonic." To rectify his prior political mistake, President Bush used his June 20 Executive Order to eliminate "embryonic" from the registry's name. From this point forward, the "Human Embryonic Stem Cell Registry" will be called the "Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Registry." George Orwell must be smirking in his grave.
Lee M. Silver, Ph.D., is an ACSH Trustee and a professor of molecular biology and public affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.
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