Embryonic stem stem cell research. (Technology & Society).

Millions of Americans suffer from debilitating diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, and it is unfortunate that Congress is prolonging their suffering. In late February the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2003 despite stiff resistance from Democrats, Republicans, families of individuals suffering from various diseases, and most notably, former First Lady Nancy Reagan.

The reason for the resistance was that the bill, debated furiously on the floor, wasn't about banning human cloning. (I, like many other Americans, am against the cloning of human beings.) Rather, the bill was about hamstringing the work of scientists who utilize stem cells from human embryos as part of therapeutic cloning to make advances in fighting life-altering diseases. Furthermore, the legislation--which the Senate is still considering--would ban drugs and treatments developed by use of therapeutic cloning techniques.

Recently the Washington Post and other news outlets published articles about how scientists are finding that President George W. Bush's ban on federally funded research of stem cell lines created after August 9, 2001, is greatly limiting their ability to make progress. This research includes working on cures and treatments for illnesses like heart disease and spinal cord injuries, which would benefit from therapeutic cloning.

The crux of the problem is that the current, approved stem cell lines may be unsuitable for human trials because they were produced by the aid of mouse cells which may contain viruses. Yet scientists receiving federal funds are limited to using only these. And the Food and Drug Administration, out of concern regarding the virus problem, has imposed stringent ground rules for any human trials using these old cell lines.

Stem cells were discovered in 1998, and the medical advances since then have been nothing less than extraordinary, which is why extremist ideology shouldn't slow or halt this progress. Embryonic stem cells are derived from frozen embryos left over by couples who have been seeking a pregnancy; embryos aren't being created for the purpose of being destroyed. Indeed, after a couple has succeeded in establishing a pregnancy, the leftover embryos are normally discarded. Those opposed to embryonic stem cell research believe that life begins at the moment of fertilization and thus see such research as akin to abortion. It is their right to hold that view, but it is a religious belief which shouldn't be allowed to impede scientific advancement.

This isn't a partisan issue. Senators Orrin Hatch (Republican, Utah) and Arlen Specter (Republican, Pennsylvania) as well as various other House members, like Representative Jim Greenwood (Republican, Pennsylvania), support the use of embryonic stem cells to help treat and eventually cure deadly diseases. However, it is Nancy Reagan's impassioned pleas for embryonic stem cell research which have struck the most compelling chord. Former President Ronald Reagan would be a prime beneficiary of treatments for Alzheimer's created by discoveries using embryonic stem cells. Writing to my colleague, Representative Jim McGovern (Democrat, Massachusetts), Nancy Reagan makes it explicitly clear that she favors embryonic stem cell research and therapeutic cloning because of the myriad of opportunities it opens up:

   I am writing, therefore, to offer my support
   for stem cell research and to tell you I'm in
   favor of new legislation to allow the ethical
   use of therapeutic cloning.

      Like you, I support a complete ban on
   reproductive cloning. However, I believe
   that embryonic stem cell research under
   appropriate guidelines may provide our scientists
   with many answers that are now
   beyond our grasp. There are so many diseases
   that can be cured, or at least helped,
   that we cannot turn our back on this. We
   have lost so much time already. I cannot
   bear to lose any more.

Pursuing medical advances through therapeutic cloning can help millions of those who suffer from diseases and injuries to one day have fuller memories, be able to walk, be pain free, and not suffer from chronic heart disease. It is past time to put aside ideology and put first the interests of those individuals and their families who are suffering--many needlessly.

The political and religious considerations which have so far determined the legislative outcome of this debate are a sad reflection of a nation founded on the belief that there should be a separation between matters of church and state. The United States violates this constitutional principle at the peril of Americans and with the continuing cost of their suffering neighbors.

Jim Moran represents the eighth congressional district of Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives.