Politics
June 2006
The House has passed a bill -- the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act -- that would relax the restrictions and allow federal funding to go towards surplus embryos from fertilization clinics that are destined to be destroyed. The Senate has not yet voted on the bill but majority leader Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., has pledged to bring it to the floor for a vote this summer
The U.S. HOUSE
Bill Number H.R.810 for the 109th Congress
House: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:h.r.810: |
The Bill: http://www.house.gov/castle/Castle%20DeGette%20ESCR.html |
Congress: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/issues/bills/?bill=7357091 |
THE U.S. SENATE
S471: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:s.471: |
NIH: http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=38171 |
Catholics: http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=20275 |
Scientist: http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/23690/ |
The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act (H.R. 810/S. 471)
is bipartisan legislation to expand the current federal funding policy on stem cell research. H.R. 810 was introduced in the House on February 15, 2005 by Representatives Michael N. Castle (R-DE) and Diana DeGette (D-CO). This bill had 200 cosponsors and was passed by a vote of 238 to 194; it was just 52 votes short of the two-thirds majority required to overturn a veto.S. 471 was introduced in the Senate by Senators Diane Feinstein (D-CA), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA); S 471 now has 40 cosponsors.
S. 471 has been referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and has been placed on the Senate's legislative calendar.
Background of Stem Cell Research
In 2001 President Bush initiated limited federal government support of research on special human cells. This research involves stem cells taken from fertilized human eggs, called embryos.Doctors and scientific researchers believe that stem cells have qualities that may make them highly useful in the treatment of serious medical diseases and conditions. Stem cell research involves cells that have to potential to develop into any kind of cell, tissue, or organ in the body ("totipotent stem cells") and that may one day soon be able to replace damaged or sick cells in a patient who has an injury or degenerative disease.
Researchers and policy-makers believe that stem cell research could help find cures for a wide range of diseases. Stem cell research has already provided, and holds out tremendous promise to continue to provide, great progress for finding a cure or treatment for conditions including breast and prostate cancer, leukemia, diabetes, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, spinal cord injuries and Huntington's chorea. It also holds the potential to repair and regenerate human tissues, nerve cells, and skin cells.
Current Situation
Because of the heated debate over the use of embryos for medical research, stem cell research has been restricted severely by the Bush administration. When President Bush introduced federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, he allowed for research only on 60 existing germ lines (self-sustaining colonies of cells derived from destroyed embryos that scientists already have begun to study).Today, only about 20 of the original 60 germ lines are viable for research, and this small number of germ lines makes finding treatment for diseases almost impossible. In addition, President Bush stopped short of allowing federal funding for research using stem cells derived from frozen embryos that have not been studied (about 100,000 of which exist at fertility labs across the country), and created a new President's Council on Bioethics to monitor the ramifications of these developments.
In recent years, much has been learned about the medical research potential of human embryonic stem cells.
Forty Nobel Prize-winning scientists have said that this research could be key to the creation of future therapies and cures that could save millions of lives that today are at risk from disease and medical conditions. Stem cell research points toward a new direction for American medicine as it continues to harness modern technology in its quest to save lives.
On May 24, 2005, the House passed the
Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act (H.R. 810).This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require that the Secretary of Health and Human Services conduct and support research that uses human embryonic stem cells.
The Stem Cell Research Act
has strong bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate. It will open up additional stem cell lines for federally funded research, ensuring the safe, regulated, and ethical conduction of this crucial scientific research. In addition, it permits the use of stem cells regardless of the date on which the stem cells were derived from a human embryo, while still limiting research with consideration to ethical requirements. The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act requires that all human embryonic stem cells used for research must come from embryos that were created only for fertility treatments. The person for whom the embryos were created already must have decided that they would not be implanted but instead would be thrown out. They must be donated with written consent and the donor must receive no financial or other payment.The passage of H.R. 810
has been a tremendous victory for the American medical and scientific communities.It has yet to pass in the Senate, however, and President Bush has said that he intends veto the bill.
President Bush and other opponents of this research argue that embryonic cell research disregards the value of human life.
The fact remains, however, that this legislation has everything to do with human life and dignity by using the power of science to alleviate human suffering.
Embryos used for research are not fertilized, nor are they ever implanted within a woman for the purpose of reproduction.
Jewish Perspective
Jewish tradition teaches us that preserving life and promoting health are among the most precious of values. Nachmanides, a medieval Torah and Talmud scholar, taught that the practice of healing is not merely a profession; it is a mitzvah, a righteous obligation; our tradition required that we use all available knowledge to heal the ill, and "when one delays in doing so, it is as if he has shed blood" (Shulchan Aruch, Yorei De'ah 336:1).Furthermore, support of stem cell research evolves from the view in Jewish law that an embryo does not have "full capacity or status" until it is 40 days old.
Thus, there is a near unanimity across the spectrum in Jewish life in support of embryonic stem cell research.
GovTrack: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h109-810 |