Holding Cures Hostage
By Dr. Kelly Hollowell

Remember in August 2001 when President Bush announced his plan for federal funding of embryonic stem cell research? He announced federal dollars could be used to fund research on existing stem cell lines because the embryos were already destroyed. He drew a line in the sand by saying no additional embryos would be destroyed for stem cell research using our tax dollars.

This was supposed to be an acceptable compromise between opponents and proponents of this ethically challenged research. Predictably, neither side was very happy. The left was appalled by the limitations. The right was concerned about giving the left a proverbial toehold--that could mature into a foothold--on federal money for human experimentation.

As expected, proponents now claim the President’s stem cell policy is handcuffing our nation’s top scientists, restricting medical research, and holding back cures from our loved ones. They also claim that the stem cell lines available for federal research dollars are inferior to privately funded stem cell lines created after August 2001.

This has led to the May passage of H.R. 810, The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005. The bill is intended to overturn the current restrictions on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research (ESCR). The vote (238-194) fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to overturn an expected (and promised) presidential veto. Nonetheless it did have bipartisan support, with 50 Republicans voting in favor of the legislation.

Specifically, proponents of ESCR argue that in vitro fertilization (IVF) clinics routinely create more human embryos than are needed. They claim the “excess embryos” should be used to advance ESCR and potential therapies. The problem with this answer is twofold.

First, it still requires the destruction of human life. Second, in using these “excess embryos” there is raised the very real hurdle of tissue rejection during treatment. In fact, it is nearly inconceivable that immune rejection will be overcome using leftover embryos from IVF clinics, primarily due to differences in the biological make-ups of the embryo and the patient.

Think about it. No one can randomly donate blood or an organ to just anyone on the street. A “match” is required for even the hope of a successful transfusion or transplant to be realized. This fundamental requirement of transfusion and transplant procedures somewhat ironically corroborates the pro-life position that the embryos are individual and distinct human life from conception.

To overcome the hurdle of immune rejection, it is therefore quite likely that overturning current restrictions on ESCR will inevitably lead to therapeutic cloning. Only therapeutic cloning – making a cloned embryo of yourself in order to harvest its “match” embryonic stem cells – is likely to overcome the rejection hurdle inherent in current embryonic stem cell therapies.

In response to this ongoing and heated debate, a rare case of compromise appeared to be at hand in the introduction and passage of H.R. 2520. The Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005 creates a national “bank” of stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood. The bill, introduced by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), “authorizes the Department of Health and Human Services to contract existing cord blood banks to collect 150,000 units of cord blood and provides the agency with $79 million to maintain and catalogue the blood [similar to bone marrow banks].” It passed the House 431-1, with good reason.

A national cord blood bank could benefit a great many Americans. It has no ethical obstacle and offers the possibility of many years of healthy, normal life for the 30,000 children and adults in the U.S. affected by over 70 illnesses, including: Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Multiple forms of leukemia including chronic lymphocytic leukemia, Other forms of cancer, Chemotherapy damage, Multiple myeloma, Radiation poisoning, Aplastic and sickle cell anemia.

As expected, and shortly after the House passed H.R. 2520 and H.R. 810, co-sponsors of their companion bills urged Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to bring the corresponding legislation to the floor. Frist indicated he would allow the Senate bills to come to the floor for a vote in July 2005, then September, and most recently, December. To date, the Senate has not moved at all on either bill.

What’s worse, it appears that some members in the Senate intend to tie H.R. 2520 and H.R. 810 together. In other words, until proponents of ESCR get a vote on ESCR, they will block a vote on the cord blood legislation. If true, this reveals a truly sinister side to proponents of ESCR. It means they aren’t really interested in cures so much as pushing their macabre legislative agenda. How else can you explain holding the cord blood bill hostage?

Dr. Kelly Hollowell is the Center for Reclaiming America's Senior Strategist for Bioethics. The Center was founded in 1996 by Dr. D. James Kennedy, as an outreach of Coral Ridge Ministries for the purpose of mobilizing America’s Christians at the grassroots level. Their web site is http://www.reclaimamerica.org.