Majorities in Congress, U.S. Back Obama on Stem Cell Research
On Monday, President Obama will reportedly reverse George W. Bush's draconian restrictions on federal funding for stem cell research. But while coverage in press outlets including CBS, Politico and the New York Times has focused on a "controversy" that is "certain to draw criticism from anti-abortion and religious groups," lost in the consensus media narrative is the overwhelming support for the research both in Congress and among the American people overall.
To be sure, embryonic stem cell research has enjoyed consistent public support since President Bush announced his strict limits on taxpayer funding on August 9, 2001. By steady 15 to 20 point margins, Americans back investments in studies that could potentially lead to treatments for Lou Gehrig's, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases as well as diabetes and spinal cord injuries. In one June 2008 Time magazine poll, a whopping 73% favored "using discarded embryos to conduct stem cell research to try to find cures."
That clear consensus explains why the reversal of the Bush stem cell policy, advocated by both Barack Obama and John McCain, was not a major issue during the 2008 campaign. The only question for President Obama was not whether to keep his promise, but how.
Just prior to his inauguration, President-Elect Obama suggested he might leave the matter to Congress. On January 16, 2009, Obama noted:
"Well, if we can do something legislative then I usually prefer a legislative process because those are the people's representatives...So we're still examining what things we'll do through executive order. But I like the idea of the American people's representatives expressing their views on an issue like this."
Of course, the American people's representatives had already expressed their views on the issue - twice. In 2005 and again two years later, large majorities in both houses of Congress passed stem cell research bills designed to undo President Bush's restrictions. (In 2007, a then decidedly more Republican House approved the legislation by 247-176; the Senate followed suit by 63 to 34.) But both times Bush vetoed the bill and withstood Congressional override attempts.
That unequivocal message from Congress may have helped drive President Obama's apparent two-pronged strategy to act via executive order now while seeking additional legislation later. During a February 5th meeting with House Democrats, the President announced:
"I guarantee you that we will sign an executive order for stem cells. God gave us power to make smart decisions, to cure diseases, to alleviate suffering."
Not according to religious right leaders like Tony Perkins. As the New York Times reported:
"It must be Friday night because word leaks of yet another deadly executive order by President Obama," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, calling Mr. Obama's intention "a slap in the face to Americans who believe in the dignity of all human life."
Sadly for Mr. Perkins, he doesn't stand a snowflake's chance in hell of stopping the reversal of Bush's stunting of stem cell research in the U.S. and the assault on science behind it. Among the 17 Republican Senators who backed the 2007 stem cell bill was Orrin Hatch (R-UT). Hatch, who like many conservatives extols a supposed "culture of life" philosophy featuring many personal exemptions, has been a vocal proponent of stem cell research. As he put it two years ago:
"When I think about embryonic stem cell research, I imagine diabetics without insulin pumps. I imagine patients with Parkinson's disease who sprint rather than shuffle. I conceive of patients with spinal cord disease or injuries who stand up and walk again."
On Monday, Orrin Hatch will join a bipartisan group of 30 Congressmen at President Obama's White House event announcing the new policy liberating American scientists to pursue stem cell research. The majority of American people will be with them.
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