Morton Kondracke: Will Frist back stem cell research?

[question everything]

MORTON KONDRACKE ROLL CALL

Will Frist back stem cell research?

July 19, 2005

The Senate's stem cell debate forces a moment of truth upon Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn.: Is he, at bottom, a doctor and scientist dedicated to saving lives, or just an ambitious politician out to advance his career?

At the moment, the evidence suggests the latter – that he's working to peel votes away from legislation that would hasten stem cell research and in the process give himself and his party political cover.

Polls consistently show that as many as two-thirds of voters support federal funding of medical research using embryos left over at in-vitro fertilization clinics and otherwise destined for destruction. Even many evangelical Christians and Roman Catholics support the research.

But the religious right wing of the Republican Party and the right-to-life movement – which probably have veto power over GOP presidential nominees – strongly oppose the research on the grounds that the embryos constitute sacrosanct "human life."

To the dismay of many who admire him, this would not be the first time Frist has allowed his ambition to trump his scientific judgment and put him in league with the ideologues.

In July 2001, after serious study and soul-searching, he bucked the right wing and endorsed federal funding of embryonic research within proper ethical guidelines. But then in August 2001, Frist saluted when President Bush limited the funding to stem cells obtained prior to that time and supported the Bush claim that researchers would have as many as 60 batches (or "lines") of stem cells to work with. It turns out that only 22 lines are available and all are contaminated, making them unsuitable for use in humans.

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Find this article at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050719/news_lz1e19kond.html

[DemGirl7]

1. I'm willing to bet he doesn't back stem cell research

:think: