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Born Against
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Here's a transcript of Bush's speech on stem cell research, in the East Room on Tuesday. His view that already-destroyed embryos are fair game ethically for stem-cell research is highlighted in yellow.
Quote:
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Rather than discard these embryos created during in vitro fertilization or turn them over for research that destroys them, these families have chosen a life-affirming alternative. Twenty-one children here today found a chance for life with loving parents.
I believe America...
(APPLAUSE)
I believe America must pursue the tremendous possibilities of science. And I believe we can do so while still fostering and encouraging respect for human life in all its stages.
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In the complex debate over embryonic stem cell research, we must remember that real human lives are involved, both the lives of those with diseases that might find cures from this research and the lives of the embryos that will be destroyed in the process. The children here today are reminders that every human life is a precious gift of matchless value.
(APPLAUSE)
I appreciate Mike Leavitt, Department of Health and Human Services, for being here. He's the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
I picked a really good man to take on this assignment. He's doing a fine job.
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I want to thank the executive director of Nightlight Christian Adoptions, Ron Stoddart, for joining us today.
Welcome.
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I want to thank Lori Maze, the director of Snowflakes Frozen Embryo Adoption Program.
Welcome, Lori. Thank you for coming.
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And thank you all for being here.
The rapid advance of science presents us with the hope of eventual cures for terrible diseases and with profound ethical and moral dilemmas. The decisions we make today will have far-reaching consequences. So we must aggressively move forward with medical research while also maintaining the highest ethical standards. Research on stem cells derived from human embryos may offer great promise, but the way those cells are derived today destroys the embryo.
I share the hope of millions of Americans who desperately want to find treatments and cures for terrible diseases such as juvenile diabetes and Parkinson's disease. That is why my administration completed the doubling of the NIH budget to $29 billion a year to encourage research. I also made available for the first time federal funds for embryonic stem cell research in order to explore the potential of these cells. But I also recognize the grave moral issues at stake.
So in August 2001, I set forward a policy to develop stem cell research in a responsible way by funding research on stem cell lines developed only from embryos that had already been destroyed. This policy set a clear standard: we should not use public money to support the further destruction of human life.
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Under this policy we have supported a great deal of ethical research. About 600 shipments of eligible stem cell lines are already being used by researchers across the country, and over 3,000 more shipments are still available.
We've increased funding for all forms of stem cell research by more than 80 percent since I took office. A tremendous amount of both public and private research is under way in America on embryonic, as well as adult stem cells and stem cells from umbilical cord blood.
Today, the House of Representatives is considering a bill that violates the clear standard I set four years ago. This bill would take us across a critical ethical line by creating new incentives for the ongoing destruction of emerging human life. Crossing this line would be a great mistake.
Even now researchers are exploring alternative sources of stem cells such as adult bone marrow and umbilical cord blood, as well as different ethical ways of getting the same kind of cells now taken from embryos without violating human life or dignity. With the right policies and the right techniques, we can pursue scientific progress while still fulfilling our moral duties.
I want to thank Nightline Christian Adoptions for their good work. Nightline's embryo adoption program has now matched over 200 biological parents with about 140 adoptive families, resulting in the birth of 81 children so far, with more on the way.
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The children here today remind us that there is no such thing as a spare embryo. Every embryo is unique and genetically complete, like every other human being, and each of us started out our life this way.
These lives are not raw material to be exploited, but gifts. And I commend each of the families here today for accepting the gift of these children and offering them the gift of your love.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you for coming today. By the way, we're having a little birthday gathering just in a second for Tanner (ph) and Noelle (ph). You all are invited to partake in a little birthday cake.
In the meantime, may god bless you and your families. And may god continue to bless our country.
Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
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And here are his original remarks from Crawford on August 9, 2001. Again his position is highlighted in yellow:
Quote:
PRESIDENT BUSH: Good evening. I appreciate you giving me a few minutes of your time tonight so I can discuss with you a complex and difficult issue, an issue that is one of the most profound of our time.
The issue of research involving stem cells derived from human embryos is increasingly the subject of a national debate and dinner- table discussions. The issue is confronted every day in laboratories, as scientists ponder the ethical ramifications of their work. It is agonized over by parents and many couples as they try to have children or to save children already born.
The issue is debated within the church, with people of different faiths, even many of the same faith, coming to different conclusions. Many people are finding that the more they know about stem-cell research, the less certain they are about the right ethical and moral conclusions.
My administration must decide whether to allow federal funds, your tax dollars, to be used for scientific research on stem cells derived from human embryos. A large number of these embryos already exist. They are the product of a process called in-vitro fertilization, which helps so many couples conceive children.
When doctors match sperm and egg to create life outside the womb, they usually produce more embryos than are implanted in the mother. Once a couple successfully has children, or if they are unsuccessful, the additional embryos remain frozen in laboratories. Some will not survive during long storage. Others are destroyed. A number have been donated and used to create privately-funded stem- cell lines, and a few have been implanted in an adoptive mother and born and are today healthy children.
Based on preliminary work that has been privately funded, scientists believe further research using stem cells offers great promise that could help improve the lives of those who suffer from many terrible diseases, from juvenile diabetes to Alzheimer's, from Parkinson's to spinal-cord injuries. And while scientists admit they are not yet certain, they believe stem cells derived from embryos have unique potential.
You should also know that stem cells can be derived from sources other than embryos, from adult cells, from umbilical cords that are discarded after babies are born, from human placentas. And many scientists feel research on these types of stem cells is also promising. Many patients suffering from a range of diseases are already being helped with treatments developed from adult stem cells.
However, most scientists, at least today, believe that research on embryonic stem cells offers the most promise, because these cells have the potential to develop in all of the tissues in the body. Scientists further believe that rapid progress in this research will come only with federal funds. Federal dollars help attract the best and brightest scientists. They ensure new discoveries are widely shared at the largest number of research facilities and that the research is directed toward the greatest public good.
The United States has a long and proud record of leading the world toward advances in science and medicine that improve human life. And the United States has a long and proud record of upholding the highest standards of ethics as we expand the limits of science and knowledge.
Research on embryonic stem cells raises profound ethical questions, because extracting the stem cell destroys the embryo, and thus destroys its potential for life. Like a snowflake, each of these embryos is unique, with the unique genetic potential of an individual human being.
As I thought through this issue, I kept returning to two fundamental questions. First, are these frozen embryos human life, and therefore something precious to be protected? And second, if they're going to be destroyed anyway, shouldn't they be used for a greater good, for research that has the potential to save and improve other lives?
I've asked those questions and others of scientists, scholars, bioethicists, religious leaders, doctors, researchers, members of Congress, my Cabinet and my friends. I have read heartfelt letters from many Americans. I have given this issue a great deal of thought, prayer, and considerable reflection. And I have found widespread disagreement.
On the first issue, are these embryos human life? Well, one researcher told me he believes this five-day-old cluster of cells is not an embryo, not yet an individual but a pre-embryo. He argued that it has the potential for life but it is not a life because it cannot develop on its own.
An ethicist dismissed that as a callous attempt at rationalization. "Make no mistake," he told me. "That cluster of cells is the same way you and I and all the rest of us started our lives." "One goes with a heavy heart if we use these," he said, "because we are dealing with the seeds of the next generation."
And to the other crucial question, "If these are going to be destroyed anyway, why not use them for a good purpose?" I also found different answers. Many argue these embryos are byproducts of a process that helps create life, and we should allow couples to donate them to science so they can be used for good purpose instead of wasting their potential.
Others will argue there's no such thing as excess life, and the fact that a living being is going to die does not justify experimenting on it or exploiting it as a natural resource.
At its core, this issue forces us to confront fundamental questions about the beginnings of life and the ends of science. It lies at a difficult moral intersection, juxtaposing the need to protect life in all its phases with the prospect of saving and improving life in all its stages.
As the discoveries of modern science create tremendous hope, they also lay vast ethical mine fields. As the genius of science extends the horizons of what we can do, we increasingly confront complex questions about what we should do. We have arrived at that brave new world that seemed so distant in 1932, when Aldous Huxley wrote about human beings created in test tubes in what he called a "hatchery."
In recent weeks, we learned that scientists have created human embryos in test tubes solely to experiment on them. This is deeply troubling and a warning sign that should prompt all of us to think through these issues very carefully.
Embryonic stem-cell research is at the leading edge of a series of moral hazards. The initial stem-cell researcher was at first reluctant to begin his research, fearing it might be used for human cloning. Scientists have already cloned a sheep. Researchers are telling us the next step could be to clone human beings to create individual designer stem cells, essentially to grow another you to be available in case you need another heart or lung or liver.
I strongly oppose human cloning, as do most Americans. We recoil at the idea of growing human beings for spare body parts or creating life for our convenience. And while we must devote enormous energy to conquering disease, it is equally important that we pay attention to the moral concerns raised by the new frontier of human embryo stem-cell research. Even the most noble ends do not justify any means.
My position on these issues is shaped by deeply-held beliefs. I'm a strong supporter of science and technology and believe they have the potential for incredible good -- to improve lives, to save life, to conquer disease. Research offers hope that millions of our loved ones may be cured of a disease and rid of their suffering.
I have friends whose children suffer from juvenile diabetes. Nancy Reagan has written me about President Reagan's struggle with Alzheimer's. My own family has confronted the tragedy of childhood leukemia. And like all Americans, I have great hope for cures.
I also believe human life is a sacred gift from our creator. I worry about a culture that devalues life and believe, as your president, I have an important obligation to foster and encourage respect for life in America and throughout the world.
And while we're all hopeful about the potential of this research, no one can be certain that the science will live up to the hope it has generated. Eight years ago, scientists believed fetal- tissue research offered great hope for cures and treatments, yet the progress to date has not lived up to its initial expectations.
Embryonic stem-cell research offers both great promise and great peril. So I have decided we must proceed with great care. As a result of private research, more than 60 genetically-diverse stem- cell lines already exist. They were created from embryos that have already been destroyed, and they have the ability to regenerate themselves indefinitely, creating ongoing opportunities for research.
I have concluded that we should allow federal funds to be used for research on these existing stem-cell lines, where a life- and-death decision has already been made. Leading scientists tell me research on these 60 lines has great promise that can lead to breakthrough therapies and cures. 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.
I also believe that great scientific progress can be made through aggressive federal funding and research on umbilical-cord, placenta, adult and animal stem cells which do not involve the same moral dilemma. This year, your government will spend $250 million on this important research.
I will also name a president's council to monitor stem-cell research, to recommend appropriate guidelines and regulations, and to consider all of the medical and ethical ramifications of biomedical innovation. This council will consist of leading scientists, doctors, ethicists, lawyers, theologians and others, and will be chaired by Dr. Leon Cass (sp), a leading biomedical ethicist from the University of Chicago. This council will keep us apprised of new developments and give our nation a forum for continuing to discuss and evaluate these important issues.
As we go forward, I hope we will always be guided by both intellect and heart, by both our capabilities and our conscience. I have made this decision with great care, and I pray it is the right one.
Thank you for listening. Good night, and God bless America.
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I agree, it's an exaggeration to say we're sitting and waiting. But the U.S. is hampered by lack of federal funding on account of Bush's policy, which is opposed by the majority of the American public, and other nations are ahead of the U.S. in this research. |