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President Bush has reaffirmed his opposition to relaxing federal restrictions on embryonic stem cell research. KSL wishes he would soften his politically expedient position.
The death of President Ronald Reagan after a decade of suffering with Alzheimer’s disease offered a reminder of the potential benefits of medical research involving the use of embryonic stem cells. Yet, current Bush administration policy restricts such federally funded research to a limited number of previously produced stem cell lines.
KSL thinks that policy is shortsighted.
Under strictly controlled conditions, scientists should be eligible for federal funding to conduct research on embryonic stem cells that otherwise would be discarded and destroyed following acceptable in-vitro fertilization procedures. Such vigilant use of non-viable embryos offers wondrous hope for millions of Americans who suffer debilitating diseases such as Alzheimer’s, diabetes and Parkinson’s.
KSL shares the view of former First Lady Nancy Reagan, expressed a month before her husband’s death. “I just don’t see how we can turn our backs on (stem cell research),” she said. “There are just so many diseases that can be cured, or at least helped.”
While the moral and ethical implications of such research should never be taken lightly, the prospects of improving life, indeed prolonging, even saving lives, cannot be ignored.
