Bush’s stem cell policy defended

LANGHORNE, Pa. – First lady Laura Bush defended her husband’s policy on embryonic stem cell research Monday, calling Democratic rival John Kerry’s criticism of the president “ridiculous” and accusing research proponents of overstating the potential for medical breakthroughs.

“We don’t even know that stem cell research will provide cures for anything – much less that it’s very close” to yielding major advances, Laura Bush said.

The first lady weighed in on the issue on the third anniversary of President Bush’s decision to limit federal funding of embryonic stem cell research to only the 78 stem cell lines in existence on Aug. 9, 2001.

Some religious groups oppose the scientific work in which culling of stem cells kills the embryos. They equate that with abortion and had urged Bush not to be the first president to fund the research – even with limits.

Proponents of the science, including former first lady Nancy Reagan and 58 Democrats and Republicans in the Senate, argue it could lead to cures for diseases such as diabetes and Alzheimer’s. Former President Reagan suffered from the latter before his death June 5 due to related pneumonia.

Only a fraction of those initial 78 stem cell lines – 21 at last count – are available to researchers because of problems with the other lines’ growth or their ownership. In March, a National Institutes of Health count cast doubt on how many ultimately would be usable.

Research proponents and members of the medical community say more than 100 new cell lines have been created worldwide since Bush’s decision – some with new techniques that may make them more scientifically useful – and could be studied under more open rules.

With polls showing overwhelming support for stem cell research, Kerry has promised to give scientists more freedom. He has used the word “ban” to describe Bush’s actions when what the president has done is limit the research.

“That’s so ridiculous,” Laura Bush said in an interview with The Associated Press. “It’s one of the myths that start during a campaign.”

Kerry spokesman Phil Singer said Bush’s restrictions apply to 99.9 percent of potential stem cell lines that could be studied. “If that’s not a ban,” he said, “we don’t know what is.”