Frist endorses stem cell funds; Land ‘brokenhearted’
- Jul 29, 2005
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist endorsed legislation July 29 to provide federal funds for stem cell research that destroys embryos—putting him at odds with President Bush while at the same time giving renewed hope to backers of the controversial experimentation and stunning its foes.
The Republican from Tennessee explained his support in a speech from the Senate floor, describing it as a reaffirmation of a position he outlined four years before. Frist, however, had said in June he did not believe Bush’s more restrictive policy needed to be changed.
The Senate is expected to take up the legislation after it returns Sept. 6 from a five-week recess.
The bill Frist endorsed, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act (H.R. 810), would approve federal funds for research on embryos that are in storage at in vitro fertilization clinics and are donated by the parents. It would liberalize the policy the President instituted in August 2001. Bush’s rule allows funding for research only on embryonic stem cell lines already in existence prior to his announcement of the policy.
After Frist’s announcement, the White House reiterated Bush’s intention to veto the legislation if it reaches his desk. Sen. Arlen Specter, R.-Pa., said July 31 Frist’s speech gave the bill a “big boost” and estimated it has 62 supporters in the Senate. About 15 other senators are “thinking it over,” Specter said on “CBS News’ Face the Nation.”
“I believe that by the time the vote comes up,” Specter said, “we’ll have 67,” the two-thirds majority required to override a veto. He acknowledged, however, gaining the same percentage of votes in the House of Representatives would be a problem. The House voted 238-194 for the bill in May, leaving supporters about 50 votes short of the total required for an override.
Richard Land said he was “brokenhearted” at Frist’s decision.
“Majority Leader Frist is a man of enormous abilities and conviction, and I am confident that he made this decision based on conscience and principle rather than political calculation,” the president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission said. “Unfortunately, I could not disagree with him more on where his principles led him when it comes to the sacrifice of frozen embryos in the cause of searching for treatments for the ailments of older and bigger humans. The pro-life cause should be extremely grateful that we have a President who will hold the line and veto such a bill if it comes to his desk.”
In embryonic stem cell research, embryos in normally the first week of life are destroyed when stem cells are extracted from them.
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