Posted on 06/20/2007 8:25:13 PM PDT by monomaniac
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The next president could very well have a different take on taxpayer funding of embryonic stem cell research compared to President Bush. Reacting to the veto of a funding bill, Democrats universally bashed the president while Republicans had a mixed response.
Republican presidential candidates are split on the issue which has caused considerable concern for the pro-life community.
Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, two of the top candidates, both support funding and would have signed the bill.
At the Republican debate on May 3, Giuliani said he supports expanding federal funding of embryonic stem cell research and McCain has voted twice for the bill that Bush vetoed.
On the other hand, former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson and former Governor Mitt Romney have said they oppose federal funding of the grisly research.
Thompson shared his views on the research in depth at the National Right to Life convention last week.
"On stem cell research, I'm for adult stem cell research not stem cell research where embryos of unborn children are destroyed. It looks to me like there is a lot of promising developments as far as adult stem cell research is concerned anyway and we don't need to go down that other road," Thompson said.
Romney has previously vetoed a bill promoting embryonic stem cell research -- and the state legislature overturned his veto.
He also blasted members of Congress on Friday for promoting embryonic stem cell research over more ethical and effective alternatives.
"They have opted to exacerbate what they see as a political debate that works in their favor, rather than encourage a scientific solution that would work in America's favor," he said.
Other GOP candidates who are trailing in the polls -- such as Sam Brownback, Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul and Tom Tancredo are united in their opposition to using public money to fund destructive research.
On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton made her views on the issue clear even before Bush officially had vetoed the bill. She criticized the president and said she would authorize funding if elected.
"Let me be clear: When I am president, I will lift the ban on stem cell research," Clinton said.
Senator Barack Obama of Illinois had a similar take.
He claimed the president dashed "the hopes of millions of Americans who do not have the time to keep waiting for the cure that may save or extend their lives" even though the research has never helped a single person.
"The promise that stem cells hold does not come from any particular ideology, it is the judgment of science," he claimed.
John Edwards, the third of the three top Democratic candidates, joined in the criticism.
"With his veto, he made the wrong choice, pushing medical breakthroughs that could help millions of Americans further away," he claimed. "We need a president who will embrace science-driven policy, rather than politically-biased science.”
>>>”This is just one example of how the president puts ideology before science, politics before the needs of our families,” she said.<<< _Hillary Clinton
And ideology shouldn’t lead science? Hello? Take a guess how Nazi German doctors discovered how to place a pin inside the shaft of a broken bone instead of having to open the entire leg and place a plate inside?
Well, they began drilling and hammering on people in concentration camps and American POWs. Anyone want to guess where the administrtion of anesthetic ranked in their list of priorities?
And there you have it. Hillary Clinton has just espoused the idea that ethics plays no role in guiding science. By the logic here, we ought to be able to experiment in anyway we see fit without regard to harm done. The same goes for the application of new technology.
In short, ethics is dismissed from science. Not a pretty world. Not in my book. And I say that as someone who is conducting medical research.
Dubya may hold liberal positions on many critical issues, thank God this isn’t one of them.
It’s sickening how the “political left” from both major political parties continues to play with people’s emotions and with people’s ignorance whenever discussing embryonic stem cell research. Adult stem cell research has truly shown some progress up to this point while embryonic stem cell research has only shown “the big donut” up to this point. There are still way too many people who truly believe that the Republican Party as well as President Bush are somehow blocking the cures to a variety of both illnesses and disabilities from actually taking place just by blocking more tax payer monies from going to just embryonic stem cell research!
I’m not opposed to the research…if done by private companies. Government has no business funding research outside of military applications. Even then only on projects that private companies won’t or can’t do. (i.e. the Manhattan Project)
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