WASHINGTON – President Bush plans to press for even stricter limits on human embryo research and has no intention of softening restrictions on stem cell research, a senior administration official said Thursday.
The official doused speculation from activists and members of Congress who hoped a brief mention of medical research in Bush’s State of the Union address Wednesday night might mean he was being swayed by pressure from them.
“I will work with Congress to ensure that human embryos are not created for experimentation or grown for body parts and that human life is never bought or sold as a commodity,” Bush said Wednesday night.
Supporters of embryonic stem cell research studied the brief comment for some signal of change in the policy, which limits the use of federal money for research to a few batches of embryos that existed as of August 2001.
But there was no change, the official said. She said the White House would pursue limits on other research conducted by what she called “rogue scientists.”
She referred to a 2003 experiment by Dr. Norbert Gleicher of the Foundation for Reproductive Medicine in Chicago, whose team injected male cells into female embryos.
“This would prohibit that type of experimentation as well,” the official said. She added that Bush plans to lay out a detailed, broader bioethics agenda soon.
Colorado Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette said if Bush wants ethical medical research, he should free up federal funding, not restrict it.
“Only with the full force of the federal government, through the National Institutes of Health, can we ensure that scientific research is conducted ethically, with full respect for human life and human dignity,” said DeGette, a proponent of embryonic stem cell research.
Supporters of stem cell research in Congress have said they have majorities to move ahead with legislation that would specifically authorize federal funding of the research, which some say has the potential to transform medicine.
