Utah medical researchers and clinicians are among those hoping Congress will have enough votes to override President Bush's veto Wednesday of a bill that would ease restraints on federally funded embryonic stem-cell research.
"I'm enthusiastic about exploring stem-cell research on as many fronts as possible," said Dr. Mary Beckerle, executive director of the Huntsman Cancer Institute. "We don't know which — adult or embryonic — will be more useful. We're in the early stages of research. But there are enough indicators, using narrow applications, of the utility of stem cells to regenerate tissue that can be useful."
"It holds great promise, although it is a long way off before it can be used for patients with nervous system disorders," said Dr. Mark Bromberg, neurologist at the University of Utah, who specializes in treating patients with nerve and muscle disorders such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Bromberg called it a "tragedy" that, while other forms of stem cells can be studied using federal funds, embryonic stem cells cannot. "We're missing tremendous opportunities. And I think (embryonic stem cells) have tremendous potential that the others do not."
"It will take a lot more research to realize the potential," said Beckerle. "I would like to see our government support and make funding available for embryonic stem-cell research to compete alongside other outstanding projects."
In vetoing the bill, the president told an invited audience in the East Room Wednesday that "our innovative spirit is making possible incredible advances in medicine that can save lives and cure diseases. America is also a nation founded on the principle that all human life is sacred. And our conscience calls us to pursue the possibilities of science in a manner that respects human dignity and upholds our moral values."
Federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research has drawn both bipartisan and public support. Among the most ardent supporters is Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who said he would continue to fight for federal support of embryonic stem-cell research. Before the president put pen to paper to issue the veto, Democrats had vowed they'd try to override a veto. Hatch said he'd back "an attempt by Senate leadership" to do so as well.
"The veto was expected, but it is still disappointing," Hatch said in a written statement. "Support continues to grow — both in Congress and in the public — and it's only a matter of time before the federal government gets fully behind this research."
Two Democratic Party presidential nomination hopefuls, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, sharply renounced the veto Wednesday.
To blunt criticism, Bush issued an executive order directing the Health and Human Services Department to promote research into cells that — like human embryonic stem cells — also hold the potential of regenerating into different types of cells that might be used to battle disease.
His spokesman, Tony Snow, said the executive order encouraged scientists to work with the government to add research on new stem-cell lines — those that don't involve the creation, harming or destruction of human embryos — to the list of projects eligible for federal funding.
In 2001, Bush banned federal funding for research using embryonic stem cells but exempted projects using already established embryonic stem-cell lines. New lines, however, cannot be created using federal funding, and it will not pay for projects using them, although states and private organizations can pay for it. The bill would have lifted that restriction.
Bromberg said the stem-cells lines that qualify for federal funds are "old and obsolete" now. And new methods developed since then have allowed researchers to produce embryonic stem-cell lines with a "much purer yield of stem cells."
Supporters of the embryonic stem-cell research have a long list of conditions they believe it might cure, but even the most optimistic say it will take time for the research and anything it yields to actually affect people who suffer from a condition.
"We have made progress in the past couple of years, but it's going to continue to be slow progress," Dr. Linda Kelley, director of the cell-therapy program at the U., told the Deseret Morning News when the issue surfaced in January.
What is clear, said Beckerle, is that embryonic stem cells can become many different types of cells — with the potential to be useful to repair different types of tissues.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is expected to schedule an override vote, but the date has not been set. Democrats, however, currently do not have enough votes to override Bush's veto.
Meanwhile, public opinion polls show strong support for the research, and it could return as an issue in the 2008 elections.
Opponents of the latest stem-cell measure insisted that the use of embryonic stem cells was the wrong approach on moral grounds — and possibly not even the most promising one scientifically. These opponents, who applaud Bush's veto, cite breakthroughs involving medical research conducted with adult stem cells, umbilical cord blood and amniotic fluid, none of which involve the destruction of a human embryo.
E-mail: lois@desnews.com