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Bush promised in January to review a Clinton administration rule that allowed federal funding for researchers experimenting on embryo cells from fertility clinics. The rule circumvented a 1995 congressional ban on using federal money for biomedical research on embryos outside the womb by allowing researchers to use stem cells extracted by a third party.

Under the rule, a third party could destroy the embryo by taking it apart and preserving the remaining living stem cells for research. Researchers value the cells for their ability to replicate quickly and turn into any kind of human tissue. The cells carry the potential to cure neurological diseases, diabetes, and many other illnesses. But many believe the destruction of a human embryo is the destruction of human life and should not be allowed for any reason.

The Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, Concerned Women for America, the National Right to Life Committee and the Catholic Alliance had all stepped up pressure on Bush, arguing that federal funding would condone the destruction of human lives in the name of medical research.

John and Lucinda Borden brought their sons Mark and Luke, whom they adopted as frozen embryos, before legislators.

"Which of my children would you kill?" John Borden asked. "Which one would you take?"

Carrie Gordon Earl, bioethics analyst for Focus on the Family, said, "This is about nonconsensual human experimentation."

"Is this where we want to venture as a people, to a place where we devour one another for spare parts?"

The prolife lobby also received help from Do No Harm, a coalition of researchers, bioethicists, and doctors who spearheaded a nationwide petition urging Bush to oppose destructive human embryonic stem-cell research.

Bush's announcement grieved patients' groups and many in the scientific and medical communities who believe embryonic stem-cell research could provide a cure for millions. These groups—including the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation; Patients Coalition for Urgent Research; the Alliance for Aging Research (AAR); the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC); and private biotech firms—had lobbied hard for unrestricted federal funding. The groups argue that rather than waste embryos that will be destroyed along with their stem cells, researchers should use them to help save those whose lives are being cut short by disease. "This really is the best hope they have," says Tony Mazzaschi of the AAMC.

But others point out that the push for federal funding is being driven by more than altruism aimed at finding cures. A report published by the nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity (CPI) quoted a National Institutes of Health official who said that "the fledgling stem-cell industry would profit tremendously from federal funding that would cover embryonic stem-cell research."

Indeed, some observers believe the demand for stem cells is dangerously close to spawning a huge commercial industry around the sale of and experimentation on human embryos. Already, news that Advanced Cell Technology—a Massachusetts-based, privately held biotech company—and Virginia Medical School's Jones Institute had created or planned to create human embryos for the sole purpose of extracting their stem cells has troubled those on both sides of the debate. "Biotechnology companies specializing in stem-cell research stand to reap huge financial windfalls from successful therapies developed via this science," said the CPI report.

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September 3 2001, Vol. 45, No. 11