Both the platform and the remarks of individual speakers at the Republican National Convention reiterated and reaffirmed President Bush's principled stand on stem cell research.
The following highlights those statements. In addition, a separate story that appears on page 22 shows how President Bush's position is squarely in line with a majority of the American people. By way of introduction it is important to note that last year the Bush Administration provided about $190 million for research on adult stem cells, which does not require the killing of human embryos and is the only stem cell research to date that has yielded clinical benefits for humans.
GOP Platform: Stem Cell Research
"Republicans have supported, and will continue to support, important scientific research without undermining the fundamental ethical principles that have guided medical research in this country for decades. We especially welcome and encourage a stronger emphasis on adult stem cell and cord blood stem cell research, which has already provided benefits to hundreds of patients and provides real promise for treatments to help millions of Americans.
"We recognize that President Bush made a carefully considered decision to allow federal funding for stem cell research for the first time, and did not affect stem cell research in the private sector. We strongly support the President's policy that prevents taxpayer dollars from being used to encourage the future destruction of human embryos. In addition, we applaud the President's call for a comprehensive ban on human cloning and the creation of human embryos solely for experimentation.
"In August 2001, President Bush stated: '[T]he hope [it] offers is amazing....Yet the ethics of medicine are not infinitely adaptable. There is at least one bright line: We do not end some lives for the medical benefit of others.' We wholeheartedly agree."
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tn.)
An embryo is biologically human. It deserves moral respect. This President will not use your taxpayer dollars to destroy human life or create human embryos solely for the purpose of experimentation."
Laura Bush
"I could talk about the fact that my husband is the first President to provide federal funding for stem cell research. He did so in a principled way, allowing science to explore its potential while respecting the dignity of human life."