In a White House press conference on Tuesday, President Obama said his decision to ease some of former President George W. Bush's restrictions on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research was the "right thing to do and the ethical thing to do," the AP/Google reports. Obama's March 9 executive order on embryonic stem cell research allows federally funded scientists to access hundreds of new lines created since Bush's 2001 order restricting the research to 21 lines in existence at the time (AP/Google[1], 3/25). At Tuesday's press conference, a reporter asked Obama how much he "personally wrestled with the morality or ethics of federally funding this kind of research, especially given the fact that science so far has shown a lot of progress with adult stem cells, but not a lot with embryonic." Obama said, "I believe that it is very important for us to have strong moral guidelines, ethical guidelines, when it comes to stem cell research or anything that touches on ... the issues of possible cloning or issues related to ... the human life sciences." He continued that "those issues are all critical," adding, "I wrestle with it on stem cell[s]; I wrestle with it on issues like abortion." Obama said that "the guidelines that we provided meet that ethical test" and that "for embryos that are typically about to be discarded, for us to be able to use those in order to find cures for Parkinson's or for Alzheimer's or ... all sorts of other debilitating diseases ... that is the right thing to do." He added that his opinion is shared by "a number of people who are also against abortion" (Press conference transcript, AP/Google [2], 3/25). Obama said that he has "no investment in causing controversy" and that he is "happy to avoid it if that's where the science leads us." However, he added that he does not want to "predetermine this based on a very rigid ideological approach, and that's what I think is reflected in the executive order" (AP/Google [1], 3/25).
Obama Signals 'Flexibility' in Embryonic Stem Cell Research Debate, Editorial Says
A Washington Post editorial addressing Obama's apparent "flexibility" in his budget request notes that Obama also "appeared to signal flexibility" on the issue of embryonic stem cell research in his remarks on Tuesday. The editorial notes that Obama in his executive order "said he would approve federal funding on stem cells derived from embryos, with no mention of limitations or restrictions," and he would direct NIH to draft the regulations. "Last night, unlike in his original announcement, he referred to 'embryos that are typically about to be discarded,' of which many thousands exist in fertility clinics," the editorial says, adding, "Does that mean he might draw a line at the creation of embryos for the purpose of research?" The answer is "unclear, but it would be a positive step if his comment means he will decide, rather than leaving to scientists, the question of whether to limit the research to embryos already slated for destruction," according to the editorial (Washington Post, 3/25).
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