House Endorses Stem-Cell Research: Vote Still Falls Short of Level to Override Presidential Veto

By Mary M. Shaffrey, Winston-Salem Journal, N.C.

Jan. 12–WASHINGTON

Democrats in the U.S. House promised to pass a bill on embryonic-stem-cell research in the first 100 hours that they were in power, and yesterday they did so by a vote of 253-174.

The bill opens the door for federal financing of embryonic-stem-cell research. Researchers believe that the cures for many diseases — including Parkinson’s, juvenile diabetes and Alzheimer’s — can be found with the help of stem cells.

The research is controversial, though.

Opponents of embryonic-stem-cell research say they believe that it is the taking of human life. The cells are derived from laboratory-produced embryos that are typically less than a week old. The human embryo at that stage is a small, hollow ball of cells known as a blastocyst.

When the cells are retrieved, the embryo is destroyed, which draws fierce opposition from anti-abortion legislators and like-minded constituents who believe that their taxes should not finance such research.

Proponents of the research said that it is done on embryos that would otherwise be discarded from fertility clinics.

A similar bill passed the House and Senate last year but was vetoed by President Bush. Supporters of the bill are not optimistic about a different outcome this year. The bill passed well short of the two-thirds majority needed to override a likely veto.

Rep. Michael Castle, R-Del., a primary sponsor of the bill, said that Democrats have tried several times to reach out to the White House in recent weeks but have been rebuffed.

“It’s not been an easy approach, to be candid,” Castle said.

The bill now goes to the Senate.

Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., voted for the bill last year. He said yesterday, however, that he plans to introduce an amendment that would limit the amount of time that embryonic stem cells would be available for research.

Burr said that the amendment is still in the development phase, but the basic tenets of the amendment would be to have embryos available for research for a set amount of time — one year for example.

After that period, which has yet to be determined, embryos would no longer be available for research.

“By closing the door, you eliminate the chance that somehow you can create a business for the sole purpose of embryonic research,” Burr said.

The North Carolina delegation voted 7-6 against the bill. Rep. Mike McIntyre, D-7th, joined Rep. Heath Shuler, D-11th, voting against it on the Democratic side, while Rep. Howard Coble, R-6th, broke with his party leaders and voted for it.

Coble said that although he is opposed to abortion, he does not think that it is contradictory to support embryonic research because he believes in the potential for the discovery of cures for such ailments as Parkinson’s disease and spinal-cord injuries.

Shuler’s vote was watched because of Shuler’s self-described conservatism.

Shuler, who defeated a long-term Republican incumbent in November, said he voted against party leaders because recent discoveries at Wake Forest University demonstrated that there were other ways to conduct the much-heralded research.

“Wake Forest has presented some new ways of conducting stem-cell research…. I saw that as a way to do the research without destroying the embryo,” Shuler said.

Dr. Anthony Atala, the director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, published a medical-journal article Sunday on his findings that stem cells could be derived from amniotic fluid.

Amniotic stem cells are derived from the fluid surrounding unborn babies and their placentas.

In the study released Sunday, Atala and his colleagues obtained the cells using placentas or fluid from amniocentesis, a medical procedure commonly performed on unborn children to test for genetic diseases.

Speaking on the House floor yesterday, Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-5th, said she feels that proponents of the research are being “cruel and unkind” to offer the promise of myriad cures at the expense of human life.

She said she strongly supports stem-cell research, such as Atala’s recent findings, as an alternative to destroying human embryos.

“I am very empathetic to finding cures, but not at the expense of killing human embryos,” she said.

–Mary M. Shaffrey can be reached in Washington at 202-662-7672 or at mshaffrey@wsjournal.com.

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Copyright (c) 2007, Winston-Salem Journal, N.C.

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