[muawiyah]

So, Frist comes up against his first "moral challenge" and flubs it.

Time for a new Majority Leader.

[My2Cents]

Indeed, stem cell research presents the first major moral and ethical challenge to biomedical research in the 21st century.

"...and I surrender."

Sen. Bill "The Backbone" Frist strikes again.

[jern]

I guess since the majority of people could care less one way or the other. stem cell research is soooooooooooo important.

[conservative blonde]

I agree. Frist is certainly not "presidential" material. As a doctor, he should know that creating human life just to destroy it is IMMORAL. There are so many cures being found using adult stem cells that embryonic stem cells are not the panacea the researchers want us to believe. They just want our tax money and a comfortable life style for themselves as they go about snuffing out human life.

[AFPhys]

Well, now that I've read his speech and mulled it over a bit, at least one thing is clear:

He has not "flip-flopped".

His 2001 statements are entirely consistent with today.

He makes good points that researchers know quite a bit more about this issue than they did four years ago, and that ongoing review is important and adjustments may be important.

I'm still not sure what I, being VERY PRO LIFE, think about this. I have a feeling that a bill that Frist supports would be much more "ethical" than the House-passed bill, and such a bill would be more protective of life than any other likely alternative. I've got loads of issues about whether the Fed ought to be involved at all in this unless we decided to ban it, and his 'NIH has a better chance of regulating this if we're involved in funding it' argument is probably truth.

I respect what each of you think here, too.

This is a very difficult issue.

[Echo Talon]

I see what he is saying, and doesn't sound like a major deviation from what he has said before. IF you produce embryos for the sole purpose of killing them for research that is wrong. He is right and I totally agree.
It would be like going out and kidnapping people for their organs.

[romans828]

I watched the rebroadcast on C-Span just now with DeLay and Weldon and Gingrey and others talking about Frist's new stand on funding for destructive embryonic stem cell research. Many of them talked about how shocked and disappointed they are, and the pro-life medical doctors among them talked about the science involved. It was an informative and reassuring press conference for those who feel that adult stem cell research is the better way to go for moral erasons.

Shock does not even begin to describe how I feel in hearing the news of this betrayal by Frist. How can the Majority Leader get away with opposing the President on this issue and remain Majority Leader? Doesn't party discipline mean anything?

Frist may as well give up on the presidency now. Ths flip flop added to his ineffectiveness on Schiavo has lost him the pro-life vote.

[plain talk]

based on which specific points he made? I'll read this carefully later as well. But from what I read, at least some of his points seemed thought through.

[leprechaun9]

This action by Dr. Frist reminds me of a section of Rush's book,The Way Things Ought To Be.

On page 146, Rush wrote:
"I have come up with a new National Symbol for the United States. I think we need to junk the eagle and come up with a symbol that is more appropriate for the kind of government we have today. We need to replace the eagle with a huge sow that has a lot of nipples and a bunch of fat little piglets hanging on them, all trying to suckle as much nourishment from them as possible."

My problem with stem cell research is if this approach is so promising (and ultimately profitable), THEN WHY AREN'T THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES POURING MONEY INTO IT? I believe the answer is that the promise of miracle cures is a hoax!

One might say that they don't invest because it is not legal to do so. That is true in the United States, but most of the Pharmaceutical Companies are International and there are many countries where there are no such prohibitions. So then why don't they do this research off shore?

I believe this is another tap on the public cash register to fund resarch of those who have an interest in it. In effect what Dr. Frist is doing is grafting another nipple on the sow. I thought he was a Cardiologist, not a Veterinarian!