Bush In State Of Union Calls For Cloning Ban, Funding For Stem Cell Research Using Skin Cells

Main Category: Stem Cell Research
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 30 Jan 2008 - 9:00 PDT

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President Bush in his State of the Union address on Monday called on Congress to ban human cloning and increase funding for "ethical" stem cell research that does not involve the destruction of human embryos, AFP/Google.com reports (AFP/Google.com, 1/29). Bush called for an unspecified amount of funding for research that uses human adult skin cells to create embryonic-like stem cells (Reynolds/Gerstenzang, Los Angeles Times, 1/29).

Referring to recent reports that researchers have reprogrammed mature adult human skin cells to produce embryonic-like stem cells, Bush said, "This breakthrough has the potential to move us beyond the divisive debates of the past by extending the frontiers of medicine without the destruction of human life." He added, "So we are expanding funding for this type of ethical medical research" (Reuters, 1/28).

Federal funding for embryonic stem cell research is allowed only for research using embryonic stem cell lines created on or before Aug. 9, 2001, under a policy announced by Bush on that date. Bush twice has vetoed bills that would have allowed federal funding for research using stem cells derived from human embryos originally created for fertility treatments and willingly donated by patients (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 1/11).

"On matters of science and life, we must trust in the innovative spirit of medical researchers and empower them to discover new treatments while respecting moral boundaries," Bush said, adding, "So I call on the Congress to pass legislation that bans unethical practices such as the buying, selling, patenting or cloning of human life" (Speech text, 1/28).

C-SPAN video of the complete State of the Union address is available online.

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