Alzheimer's Club

"When evangelical Christians held their first "Justice Sunday" national political rally in April, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., was one of the featured speakers. The same religious coalition is running a "Justice Sunday II" rally 10 days from now in Frist's hometown of Nashville, but Frist has conspicuously not been invited.

Frist, a renowned heart-lung transplant surgeon with presidential ambitions, committed the sin of allowing respect for science to trump the absolutist dogma of religious politics. He endorsed embryonic stem cell research.

This instantly improved chances for medical research that could benefit millions. But it enraged activists who regard the research as the taking of life because embryos ­ fertilized eggs ­ are destroyed in the process.

When the Senate returns from its summer recess, it is expected to take up a House-passed bill that would loosen the Bush administration's restrictions on federal funding for such research. Scientists say embryonic cells could yield new ways to treat devastating spinal-cord injuries, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes and other ailments.

Because stem cells derived from embryos have the unique ability to develop into any kind of tissue in the body, researchers hope they can be manipulated into replacing diseased or injured tissues. Four years ago, President Bush allowed federal funding for stem cell research but limited it to those stem cell colonies, or "lines," already in existence at that time. He reiterated his position this week after Frist's speech.

Bush's approach initially seemed reasonable, but scarcely one-fourth of those lines turned out to be viable for research. And all are tainted by animal products used to help them grow in the laboratory; they might be useless or even dangerous in treating humans. Meanwhile, foreign countries have moved ahead. States, private researchers and major universities have begun to create their own stem cell institutes, but the lack of federal support is hampering the research effort at home.

The pending legislation would allow government support for research using stem cells, taken from surplus embryos at fertility clinics, that would otherwise be discarded. In a speech the day the Senate quit for a five-week recess, Frist endorsed the bill.

"The limitations put into place in 2001 will, over time, slow our ability to bring potential new treatments for certain diseases," he said. "It isn't just a matter of faith. It's a fact of science."

Indeed it is. Frist's support could be crucial to overcoming a threatened Senate filibuster, or to rallying the two-thirds vote needed to override a threatened presidential veto.

Respect for life should dictate removal of barriers to potential life-saving research, particularly when the material involved does not resemble life as most people think of it. Recent polls show majorities favor easing restrictions on stem cell research or having no limits on funding.

Frist's critics labeled his speech a politically motivated flip-flop. Perhaps it was. Even so, mindless consistency to an outmoded position is no virtue..."

Source: Shift brings new hope. USAToday (3 August 2005) [FullText]