EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH

TN Senator Bill Frist Supports Embryo Stem Cell Research
July 18, 2001—Nashville, TN: Tennessee Senator Bill Frist today announced his support for embryo stem cell research, including tax payer funding of the destructive practice.

Tennessee Right to Life opposes the use of human embryos for research because the harvesting of embryo stem cells necessarily requires the death of the embryo. (Embryo is the term used to describe those developing unborn children from conception through 8 weeks following conception.) 

While there is much dehumanizing language used in the discussion of stem cell research, the truth remains that an embryo is a genetically unique, developing human person who is at risk of being destroyed for the sole purpose of harvesting stem cells for use in the research and treatment of disease or other health conditions.

While acknowledging deep ethical and moral concerns, and while admitting that other methods of stem cell research are available which do not require the destruction of human life (including stem cells derived from placenta, umbilical cord and adults), Senator Frist maintains that the promise of such research necessarily outweighs the consideration warranted the lives of unborn, embryo children.

Please join other Tennesseans in contacting Senator Frist's office immediately and express your disappointment with a pro-life senator who is unwilling to extend basic protection to human embryos. Since Senator Frist is looked to on most medical matters in the Senate, we need an outcry from pro-life Tennesseans in order to stop this practice from becoming government funded and sanctioned.

Our message should be NO Federal Tax Dollars for the Destruction of Human Embryos!

Senator Frist may be reached at (202)224-3344 or at the following local offices: Nashville (615)352-9411, Chattanooga (423)756-2757, Jackson (901)424-9655, Kingsport (423)323-1252, Knoxville (865)602-7977, Memphis (901)683-1910.

Frist email: senator_frist@frist.senate.gov 
Frist website: http://www.senate.gov/~frist/ 

For more information contact the Legislative Liaison at Tennessee Right to Life toll free at 1-877-CHOOSE LIFE (1-877-246-6735).
 

Frist Press Release
July 18, 2001—WASHINGTON, D.C.: U.S. Senator Bill Frist (R-TN) made the following statement today after he announced his intention to support federal funding, with strict conditions, for stem cell research:

"In my work as a heart and lung transplant surgeon, I have for years wrestled with decision involving life, death, health and healing. Having taken part in hundreds of organ and tissue transplants, I've experienced the ethical challenges involved in end-of-life care on numerous occasions. I've seen families faced with the most difficult decision of saying farewell to a loved one. Yet I have also seen their selfless acts in the midst of this sadness to consent to donate living organs and tissues of their loved one to the benefit of others. Like organ donation, stem cell research forces us to make difficult decisions. While holding great potential to save lives, it also raises difficult moral and ethical considerations.

"I am pro-life. My voting record in the Senate has consistently reflected my pro- life philosophy. As a physician my sole purpose has been to preserve and improve the quality of life. The issue of whether or not to use stem cells for medical research involves deeply held moral, religious and ethical beliefs as well as scientific and medical considerations. After grappling with the issue scientifically, ethically and morally, I conclude that both embryonic and adult stem cell research should be federally funded within a carefully regulated, fully transparent framework. This framework must ensure the highest level of respect for the moral significance of the human embryo. Because of the unique interaction between this potentially powerful new research and the moral considerations of life, we must ensure a strong, comprehensive, publicly accountable oversight structure that is responsive on an ongoing basis to moral, ethical and scientific considerations.

"Embryonic stem cell research is a promising and important line of inquiry. I'm fully aware and supportive of the advances being made each day using adult stem cells. It is clear, however, that research using the more versatile embryonic stem cells has greater potential that research limited to adult stem cells and can, under the proper conditions, be conducted ethically. The prudent course for us as policymakers is to provide for the pursuit of both lines of research - allowing researcher in each field to build on the progress of the other.

"To achieve this, we must significantly strengthen the National Institutes of Health's guidelines so that they include appropriate safeguards. Federal funding for stem cell research should be contingent on the implementation of a comprehensive, strict new set of safeguards and public accountability of governing this new, evolving research. This process will ensure the progress of this science in a manner respectful of the moral significance of human embryos and the potential of stem cell research to improve health.

Frist Principles on Human Stem Cell Research
Stem cell research holds tremendous potential for treating serious illness and disease. Because the embryonic stem cells derived from five to six day-old blastocysts are "pluripotent" (appearing capable of indefinite self-renewal and differentiation into all cell types), research conducted with embryonic stem cells derived from the roughly 20-30 cells contained in the inner cell mass of the blastocyst has the potential to help advance treatments for diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, leukemia, spinal cord injuries and a number of other diseases and conditions. Research using adult stem cells also holds great promise, although there may be characteristics of adult stem cells that limit the medical potential of this research.

Embryonic stem cell research - and the derivation of stem cells from blastocysts - raises significant ethical and moral question. Many believe that these days-old embryos are human life and should not be used for research purposes under any circumstance. Others believe that, because such embryos exist outside the womb at this early developmental stage, they are not yet life. Still others believe that, regardless of whether such embryos are life, the potential of embryonic stem cells should outweigh moral or ethical concerns about their use for potentially life-saving research.

These competing concerns make it extremely difficult to reach consensus on a federal policy in this area. Nonetheless, because both embryonic and adult stem cell research may contribute to significant medical and health advancement, research on both should be federally funded within a carefully regulated, fully transparent framework that ensures respect for the moral significance of the human embryo.

The unique interplay of this promising but uncharted new science with the ethical and moral considerations of life, disease and health is continually evolving and presenting new challenges. Therefore, we must ensure a strong, comprehensive, publicly accountable oversight structure that is responsive on an ongoing basis to moral, social and scientific considerations.

Federal funding for stem cell research should be contingent on the implementation of strict new safeguards and public accountability governing this new, evolving research. The following 10 points are essential components of a comprehensive framework that allows stem cell research to progress in a manner respectful of both the moral significance of human embryos and the potential of stem cell research to improve health.

1. Ban Embryo Creation for Research: The creation of human embryos solely for research purposes should be strictly prohibited.
2. Continue Funding Ban on Derivation: Strengthen and codify the current ban on federal funding for the derivation of embryonic stem cells.
3. Ban Human Cloning: Prohibit all human cloning to prevent the creation and exploitation of life for research purposes.
4. Increase Adult Stem Cell Research Funding: Increase federal funding for research on adult stem cells to ensure the pursuit of all promising areas of stem cell research.
5. Provide Funding for Embryonic Stem Cell Research Only From Blastocysts That Would Otherwise Be Discarded: Allow federal funding for research using only those embryonic stem cells derived from blastocysts that are left over after in vitro fertilization (IVF) and would otherwise be discarded.
6. Require a Rigorous Informed Consent Process: To ensure that blastocysts used for stem cell research are only those that would otherwise be discarded, require a comprehensive informed consent process establishing a clear separation between potential donors' primary decision to donate blastocysts for adoption or to discard blastocysts and their subsequent option to donate blastocysts for research purposes. Such a process, modeled in part on well-established and broadly accepted organ and tissue donation practices, will ensure that donors are fully informed of all their options.
7. Limit Number of Stem Cell Lines: Restrict federally-funded research using embryonic stem cells derived from blastocysts to a limited number of cell lines. In addition, authorize federal funding for embryonic stem cell research for five years to ensure ongoing Congressional oversight.
8. Establish A Strong Public Research Oversight System: Establish appropriate public oversight mechanisms, including a national research registry, to ensure the transparent, in-depth monitoring of federally-funded and federally-regulated stem cell research and to promote ethical, high quality research standards.
9. Require Ongoing, Independent Scientific and Ethical Review: Establish an ongoing scientific review of stem cell research by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and create an independent Presidential advisory panel to monitor evolving bioethical issues in the area of stem cell research. In addition, require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to report to Congress annually on the status of federal grants for stem cell research, the number of stem cell lines created, the results of stem cell research, the number of grant applications received and awarded, and the amount of federal funding provided.
10. Strengthen and Harmonize Fetal Tissue Research Restrictions: Because stem cell research would be subject to new, stringent federal requirements, ensure that informed consent and oversight regulations applicable to federally-funded fetal tissue research are consistent with these new rules.