Scientists announced that stem cells may be havested from amniotic fluid which hold as much promise as embryonic stem cells. If this is the case, President Bush would have no reason to veto a bill from Congress authorizing federal funding for stem cell research using such cells.
However, scientists also acknowledge that they don’t yet know
exactly how many different cell types can be made from the stem cells found in amniotic fluid. They also said that even preliminary tests in patients are years away. Miami Herald
All the more reason the president should see to it that stem cell research be funded. The question now is, will the new Democratic Congress continue with the anticipated embryonic stem cell funding bill meant to overturn Bush’s lone veto in the face of these new findings?
Probably the answer is “yes” since scientists warn that amniotic stem cells, as yet, do not appear to be an entirely satisfactory substitute source and do not offer the full scope of possibility for discoveries about human function as do embryonic cells.
Dr. George Daley, a Harvard University stem cell researcher, said the discovery shouldn’t be used as a replacement for human embryonic stem cell research.
“While they are fascinating subjects of study in their own right, they are not a substitute for human embryonic stem cells, which allow scientists to address a host of other interesting questions in early human development. . .
As the article states, “The hallmark of human embryonic stem cells, which are created in the first days after conception, is the ability to turn into any of the more than 220 cell types that make up the human body.” Still, Dr. Daley points out that amniotic stem cells may be frozen diretly after birth so that parents would have a source for future tissue replacement in a sick child without fear of immune rejection.
Admittedly, the specifics of the vetoed bill only addressed embryonic stem cells. Passed by the House in May of 2005, the bill instated
funding to research on embryonic stem cell lines that were nonexistent in 2001, when Bush limited funding to lines in existence at the time. CNN.com
The senate passed the stem cell bill in July of 2006, setting up the first-ever presidential veto, which occurred the following month. The House was unable to override the veto, thus killing federal funding in this area of research.
Now the playing field has changed, and perhaps it has become less politicized; it may be prepped for an “intermidiary” bill. Assuredly, certain Christians and the president will find it impossible to sustain opposition to a bill authorizing federal funding of amniotic stem cells due to “religious objectons” that they used previously.
