This is not something I took lightly. I just can't look people
in the eye right now, knowing that these embryos are going to be
thrown out anyway." Rep. Vito Fossella's remarks came after
he voted for lifting President Bush's ban on funds for research
using embryonic stem cells. Formerly a staunch anti-abortion
ally, Mr. Fossella broke with Republican Party leaders, joining
others who are making the same mistake because of their own
personal interests.
The congressman from Brooklyn and Staten Island acknowledges that
his decision was partly influenced by his son Dylan's juvenile
diabetes. Senator Specter of Pennsylvania, another advocate of
embryonic stem-cell research, is suffering from Hodgkin's
disease. Other supporters are the editor Michael Kinsey and the
actor Michael J. Fox, who have Parkinson's disease. Nancy Reagan
supports the research that she believes will cure the Alzheimer's
disease that destroyed her beloved Ronnie. Until now, the
columnist Charles Krauthammer has not supported this type of
research, but he, too, believes that as long as these embryos are
scheduled to be destroyed, then it would be foolish not to
utilize them.
Not everyone who has a vested interest in research for diseases
has lost sight of the big picture. In a recent interview in the
New York Times, the Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney, said:
"Respect for human life is a fundamental element of a
civilized society. Lofty goals do not justify the creation of
life for experimentation or destruction. My wife has multiple
sclerosis, and we would dearly love for there to be a cure for
her disease and for the diseases of others. But there is an
ethical boundary that should not be crossed."
Laura Bush's father died of Alzheimer's, as did my mother-in-law,
and we both are familiar with the wake of devastation this
disease leaves, but we are also aware of the actual facts
involving this kind of research. It is criminal that self-serving
politicians and scientists are heralding embryonic stem cells as
necessary for a cure without revealing that the research has been
going on for decades with no results. Here are the facts that are
being ignored by the mainstream press. They were compiled by
Steven Ertelt ofLife-News.com, who writes:
"Embryonic stem cell research has yet to cure a single
patient. Not one.
"No currently approved treatments are being used on patients
as a result of research on the cells and there are no human
trials. After 20 years of research on embryonic stem cells, the
only results have shown they are unsafe.
"In studies, they have produced tumors, cause transplant
rejection, and they have formed the wrong kind of needed
replacement cells.
"That's why private investors have funneled most of their
money behind adult stem cell research.
"William Haseltine, CEO of Human Genome Sciences, is a
leading advocate of embryonic stem cell research, but he agrees
that results are decades away and his company is not spending
money on the unproven cells.
"'The timeline to commercialization is so long that I simply
would not invest,'" Haseltine has said.
"On the other hand, adult stem cells have been used
clinically about 30,000 times and, so far, more than 6,000
patients and 66 diseases have been successfully treated with stem
cells from cord blood.
"Meanwhile, embryonic stem cells are not the only kind that
can change into any kind of cell. Scientists at Australia's
Griffith University have ended a four year study on olfactory
stem cells and found that they can be turned into heart cells,
muscle cells, liver cells, brain cells, nerve cells and almost
any other kind of cell in the human body."
I wonder, Congressman Fossella, if you are aware that the City of
Hope in Duarte, Calif., has already made immense strides in
combating type 1 diabetes. In December 2002, I spoke with Fouad
Kandeel who leads City of Hope's clinical and research efforts in
islet-cell transplantation. These islets from donated pancreases
could eventually lead to the eradication of the disease. All that
is needed is a campaign to increase drivers' awareness of the
importance of signing the back of their licenses to authorize
organ donations in the event of an accident.
Alas, another New York congressman, Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat of
Manhattan, is cleverly clouding the stem-cell debate by injecting
religious bias into the issue. Accusing opponents of slandering
other faiths, Mr. Nadler told The New York Sun that as a Jew he
has an obligation to support the research. There are, however,
many observant and Orthodox Jews who disagree.
The most important fact we need to focus on is that embryonic
stem-cell research is not banned, but I don't think tax dollars
should finance what many believe is the destruction of human
life.
Get George Soros to pay for it.