Reagan's Death Puts Political Spotlight on Stem-Cell Research
by Bill Fancher, Sherrie Black, and Jody Brown
June 14, 2004
(AgapePress) - Despite pressure from his own party, President Bush is holding firm to a pro-life position on stem-cell research.Fifty-eight senators -- including Republican leaders Trent Lott, Lamar Alexander, Thad Cochran, and Orrin Hatch -- have joined House Democrats in asking the president to relax restrictions on destroying human embryos in order to get their stem cells for research. Bush spokesman Tim Goeglein says the president will not budge.
"The president received a letter from the House of Representatives and received another letter from the Senate asking that he change his position on stem-cell research. The president gave a very principled policy statement on stem cell when he was first elected, and the president believes that that is the policy that he will continue to stand by."
Ignoring breakthroughs in adult stem-cell research which can help in treatment of diabetes and Parkinson's disease, pro-abortion advocates are continuing to push for embryonic stem-cell research, which to this point has only produced dead human embryos.
Pence: Regan's Respect for Life
Nancy Reagan, widow of the late President Ronald Reagan, has also called for an easing of restrictions on using human embryos' stem cells to seek cures for diseases such as Alzheimer's, which took the life of her husband. But Republican Mike Pence says embryonic stem-cell research would violate the 40th president's faith.
Speaking to the Eagle Forum Collegians Leadership Summit on Capitol Hill, the Indiana lawmaker said Reagan's long battle with Alzheimer's should not be used to justify embryonic stem-cell research.
"Those who would erode the sanctity of human life in the law by advancing embryonic stem-cell research in the name of Ronald Reagan would do more to desecrate his memory than I could possibly imagine," Pence said. "He was devoted to the sanctity of human life."
According to Pence, it was the former president's commitment to life that the American people found attractive. "Understand who Ronald Reagan was and understand why he connected to the American people. Understand the foundation of his house," he said. "Understand that he built on the Rock of Christ Jesus in his life."
In the Name of ...
John Kerry appears interested in making political hay with Ronald Reagan's passing. LifeNews.com accuses the likely Democratic presidential candidate with "continuing to violate the pro-life legacy" of the former president by challenging President George W. Bush to lift the restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research.
During a radio address, Kerry reminded listeners that Nancy Reagan herself voiced support for embryonic stem-cell research that could unearth "a breakthrough that someday will spare other husbands, wives, children and parents from the same kind of heartache" she experienced as her husband suffered from Alzheimer's.
Kerry said researchers could find cures for diseases such as Alzheimer's "if only they are allowed to look." And as far as the ethical issues involved, the Massachusetts senator says "good will and good sense" would prevail.
But LifeNews.com reports that leading researchers and scientists say less controversial approaches are more likely to find a cure or reduce the effects of the disease in the coming years -- and that it may be decades before embryonic stem-cell research could yield any progress.
