NATIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE PRAISES PRESIDENT BUSH’S
PRO-LIFE POLICIES IN STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS
President calls for continued funding of research which does not destroy life

WASHINGTON – Tonight, leaders of the National Right to Life Committee, the nation’s largest pro-life group, praised President Bush’s continued commitment to funding stem cell research using ethical sources which do not require the destruction of human life.

“In tonight’s State of the Union address, President Bush emphasized the importance of his policy which supports stem cell research to find treatments and cures for disease, so long as such research does not require harming or killing humans,” said Darla St. Martin, co-executive director of National Right to Life.  “President Bush’s unwavering policy has been vindicated as researchers have discovered new, ethical sources for stem cells that show great promise.”

Last January, researchers at Wake Forest University announced the discovery of stem cells in amniotic fluid.  According to researchers, these stem cells share important traits similar to stem cells obtained from human embryos.  In November, scientists announced that skin cells could be reprogrammed to function like embryonic stem cells.

Already, humans with at least 73 different diseases and conditions have received therapeutic benefit from treatment with non-embryonic stem cells. In contrast, embryonic stem cells have not been tested in humans for any purpose because of the dangers demonstrated in animal studies, including frequent formation of tumors.  (For more information, see: http://www.stemcellresearch.org/facts/treatments.htm).

In 2001, the President announced a policy that allowed federal funding only on embryonic stem cell lines that had already been created.  The policy had the effect of discouraging the destruction of additional human embryos and encouraging researchers to concentrate on stem cell sources that do not require killing human embryos.  Since establishing this policy, the Bush Administration has provided more than $3 billion dollars for research using ethical stem cell sources.

During his State of the Union address, the President also called on Congress to enact legislation banning the patenting or cloning of human life.

“The congressional Democratic leadership, urged on by the biotech industry, has been intent on passing legislation that would pave the way for cloned human embryo farms, but have been stopped by pro-life lawmakers and the Bush Administration,” said Douglas Johnson, National Right to Life legislative director.

In June, the U.S. House of Representatives rejected a bill, deceptively labeled as a ban on human cloning, that actually would have allowed large-scale cloning of human embryos solely for purposes of research.  National Right to Life condemned the measure as "a clone-and-kill bill," and strongly opposed it.   At the time, the White House issued a statement which said, in part, "The Administration is strongly opposed to any legislation that would . . . permit the creation of cloned embryos or development of human embryo farms for research, which would require the destruction of nascent human life. Thus, if legislation were presented to the President that permitted human embryos to be created, developed, and destroyed simply for research purposes, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill."

In contrast, National Right to Life supports the Weldon-Stupak Human Cloning Prohibition Act (H.R. 2564), which would prohibit the creation of human embryos by cloning nationwide.  The House passed the bill in 2001 and 2003, but the Senate has never acted on it.  The United Nations General Assembly in 2005 urged all member nations to enact such comprehensive bans on human cloning, and at least 23 nations have already done so, including Germany, France, and Canada.

“We commend President Bush’s leadership in protecting the dignity of human life,” St. Martin added.  “Science should not be allowed to turn human life into a commodity that can be created and killed for the sake of research.”

Additional resources on stem cell research and human cloning are available at the NRLC Human Embryos webpage at www.nrlc.org/killing_embryos/index.html and at www.stemcellresearch.org.    

The National Right to Life Committee is the nation’s largest pro-life group with affiliates in all 50 states and over 3,000 local chapters nationwide.  National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect those threatened by abortion, infanticide, euthanasia and assisted suicide.