Senate approves umbilical cord blood bill

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Senate on Friday passed
legislation to promote collection and expand therapeutic use of
umbilical cord blood, which can be used to treat such diseases
as leukemia.

The legislation involves “adult stem cells” drawn from
umbilical cords of newborn babies or the placenta.

It is noncontroversial — unlike legislation that would
allow federally funded research of embryonic stem cells derived
from leftover embryos at fertility centers.

Because the embryos are destroyed, the research is anathema
to many abortion opponents.

The House passed an embryonic stem cell bill despite a veto
threat from President Bush and the Senate is expected to take
it up early in 2006.

Some lawmakers who back both bills had been reluctant to
approve the cord blood bill without the embryonic stem cell
bill but decided on Friday to let the less controversial bill
go through. It has already passed the House and can go to
President Bush for his signature.

Although cord blood is already banked, lawmakers have
pushed for this bill to expand its use and availability. They
say it may be easier to find a genetic match when using cord
blood instead of bone marrow.

Iowa Democrat Sen. Tom Harkin complained that some of the
same lawmakers pushing for the cord blood bill were also
backing an annual health spending bill that would actually cut
the amount of money available for cord blood banks and other
biomedical research.