Surprise Support Gives Impetus to Embryonic Stem Cell Bills

Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni, Director of the National Institutes of Health, surprised a Senate subcommittee yesterday, March 19, when he unequivocally urged "an end to restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research."

Dr. Zerhouni, a Bush appointee in 2002 and former executive vice-dean of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, dubbed as "overstated" conservative religious right claims that adult stem cells hold as much curative promise as embryonic stem cells, and added that such claims "do not hold scientific water."

Per the Los Angeles Times:

"Fred H. Gage, a stem cell researcher at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, said Zerhouni may have taken a political risk by articulating a position so clearly at odds with that of the White House.

'He's very careful about what he says, and fairly conservative in his policy statements,' Gage said. 'My guess is this was a very well-thought-out statement.' "

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Health & Human Services, responded:

"Dr. Zerhouni made a powerful statement that science, not politics, should drive the discussion on lifting the ban on federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research.

As the nation's top-ranking official on biomedical research, his opinion is highly respected. I applaud his courage and appreciate his candor on a subject so important to millions of Americans suffering from illnesses such as Parkinson's, diabetes, cancer or spinal cord injuries.

My hope is that the White House gets the message and doesn't continue to stand in the way of progress."

Of course, President George Bush exercised his first (and still only) presidential veto on July 19, 2006 when he refused to allow H.R. 810, Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005, to become US law.

Both the Senate and House in the Republican-controlled 109th Congress passed H.R. 810 with strong bipartisan majorities, but the House was unable to muster a 60% majority to overcome a presidential veto.

A number of bills have been newly introduced in this Democratic-controlled 110th Congress to permit federal funding of embryonic stem research, including House bill H.R. 3 with an astonishing 217 co-sponsoring House members, and its Senate counterpart bill, introduced by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and co-sponsored by 39 other senators.

2007-08 may finally be the moment when the will of the American people and the bipartisan vote of Congress overcomes President Bush's ideological stubbornness and unscientific reasoning on stem cell research. Thank God!

As Dr. Zerhouni profoundly testified, "All angles in stem cell research should be pursued... We need to find a way to move forward."

Recommended Reading
Pros & Cons of Embryonic Stem Cell Research
Text of H.R. 810: Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005
Los Angeles Times, March 20, 2007: Embryonic Stem Cell Research Gets Surprise Support