Bush's Take on Stem Cell Research

Bush, George W. "President Discusses Stem Cell Research." August 9 2001. The White House. 2001. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/08/20010809-2.html

After finding information of President George W. Bush's take on stem cell research i wanted to research it further. I found his speech to the nation about the issue which took place in April of 2001.

He stated that the "issue is debated within the church, with people of different faiths." The administration has to decide whether or not to allow federal funding meaning our taxes to be used on the research of stem cells.

He goes on to state that there are two questions that are debatable. The first is "Are these frozen embryos human life, and therefore, something precious to be protected? And second, if they're going to be destroyed anyway, shouldn't they be used for a greater good, for research that has the potential to save and improve other lives?" He said Americans have written him many letters stating their opinions on the issue. To the first question, some argue that it is the future to our next generation while the other side says they are "pre-embryos" and not yet human life. The debate among the second question is to donate the extra embryos from fertility clinics to science instead of wasting their potential. The other side thinks that just becasue a living being will die doesn't give science the right to experiment.

Since 1932, when Aldous Huxley wrote of humans being created in test tubes the debates have been going on. Scientists mainly create test tube babies just to experiment. Bush believes this is wrong and should not be happening. He also strongly opposed the cloning of humans just because we want to for our convenience or to have spare body parts.

Although Bush stated he believes human life is created by God, he states that he wants to continue the research with great care. He states that he will allow federal funds to be used for research on existing stem cell lines. $250 million dollars will also be used toward funding the research of umbilical cord placenta, adult and animal stem cells, not dealing with the issue of life and death.

Towards the end of his speech, he stated that he would appoint a council consisting of leading scientist, doctors, theologians, etc. headed by Dr. Leon Kass ("a leading biomedical ethicist from the University of Chicago") to monitor the process and regulate the guidlines and rules.

Bush supports embryo adoption, when frozen cell embryos, leftover from fertility clinics are adopted by another family. This gives other familes unable to have children an oppurtunity to "build a family." To this day 81 children have been born through the method of embryo adoption. Bush would like to see the awareness of embryo adoption to increase. In 2002, he signed a bill allowing one million dollars a year for publicizing embryo adoption.