PenceBlog: IT IS WRONG TO DESTROY ONE LIFE TO SAVE ANOTHER - U.S. Congressman Mike Pence : 6th District Of Indiana

By Rep. Mike Pence

President Bush should veto H.R. 810, the bill passed by the U.S. Senate that increases federal funding for research that uses stem cells from human embryos and I look forward to helping the U.S. House sustain his veto this week.

The bill in question would require the federal government to support research using stem cells from excess embryos created as part of fertility treatments and that were due to otherwise be discarded.

It should be noted that I, along with many of my pro-life Republican colleagues, do not oppose stem cell research. In fact, we support NIH funding for such research every year as a part of the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. My desire for a Presidential veto derives from an objection to the destructive use of embryonic stem cells.

Creating and destroying human life in the laboratory for medical research is morally wrong. While the goal is noble, we must never allow ourselves to fall into the trap of believing that the hope of disease relieved justifies research that causes death.

Sacrificing the lives of our young, at whatever stage of development, is reminiscent of barbaric civilizations we dare not follow. Stem cell research is promising and holds the potential for great medical breakthroughs.

However, to focus on the human embryo as the source, requires that we kill in order to heal. Although embryonic stem cell research is legal, it is simply a bridge too far to expect millions of Americans to pay for it.

The most important difference to be drawn in this debate is that adult stem cells do not simply offer the promise of curing patients, but they have actually cured thousands of Americans. Conversely, embryonic stem cells have never been used to treat any human being for any disease.

Adult stem cells are used to treat Parkinson’s disease and leukemia, restore vision to the legally blind, and relieve arthritis. Additionally, the Food and Drug Administration approved in April the first clinical trial of treating heart failure with adult stem cells.

Embryonic stem cells, on the other hand, have never successfully treated any human condition. The idea that they could potentially treat Alzheimer’s Disease is highly unlikely. Many experts point to early detection and medication to prevent the progression of Alzheimer’s, not stem cell therapy.

Finally, it is also important to note that the hype surrounding embryonic stem cells can be largely traced to an age-old source – money. Adult stem cell treatments, for the most part, cannot be patented, particularly when it relates to actual patient therapies, thus there is a limited incentive for investment in this research.

On the other hand, anyone who can develop an embryonic stem cell line that can be used in laboratories for conducting basic research experiments will have a biological product that will be patentable. The holder of a patent stands to realize a sizable fortune. Conversely, while adult stem cells may prove to cure some of these same illnesses, there is not a profit motive for these cures since they cannot be patented.

Two summers ago, the death of President Ronald Reagan re-ignited the national discussion about the ethics of stem-cell research. In his essay, Abortion and the Conscience of a Nation, Reagan wrote, “We cannot diminish the value of one category of human life – the unborn – without diminishing the value of all human life.”

President Bush would be wise to heed Reagan’s advice and veto this bill. The federal government should support adult stem cell research, but never encourage or fund the unethical destruction of human embryos.

posted by Pence Press Office # 12:07 PM