Kerry Promotes Stem Cell Research

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The New York Sun

HAMPTON, N.H. – John Kerry yesterday accused President Bush of restricting potentially lifesaving stem cell research because of “extreme right-wing ideology” and underscored his own strong support for research that polls show has widespread backing.


The Democratic senator spoke in a high school gymnasium alongside actor Michael J. Fox, who has Parkinson’s disease, and others who told emotional stories how disease have impacted their lives. They urged Mr. Kerry’s election because of the stem cell issue.


“I will stop at nothing to get stem cell research moving forward in this country,” Mr. Kerry said. He said Mr. Bush had dismissed the judgment of scientists who say embryonic stem cell research could eventually lead to disease cures.


“This underscores, in my judgment, the perils of having a president who turns his back on science in favor of ideology, and as a result, abandons millions of Americans’ hopes,” Mr. Kerry said.


Mr. Kerry made the same point at a later stop in Philadelphia, where he met with families and researchers who support the use of stem cells. The Kerry campaign also unveiled a new TV ad that says it’s time to “lift the political barriers” blocking the exploration of stem cell therapies.


While in Philadelphia, Mr. Kerry continued his effort to shore up black support by speaking to clergy from black churches from several states. He won applause when he told them, “If you make me president of the United States, I will do my best to even do better than Bill Clinton did to make sure the government of the United States looks like the face of America.”


Three years ago, Mr. Bush limited federal funding of embryonic stem cell research to the 78 stem cell lines in existence. Less than a third of those initial lines are available to researchers because of problems with the lines’ growth or their ownership.


Mr. Kerry called Mr. Bush’s action “a far-reaching ban on federal funding for stem cell research,” a statement the president’s campaign said wasn’t true.


Mr. Bush’s spokesman, Steve Schmidt, said Mr. Kerry was “trying to mislead the American people by implying a ban that doesn’t exist.”


Some religious groups oppose the scientific work, in which the culling of stem cells kills the embryos, equating that with abortion. They did not want Mr. Bush to be the first president to fund the research – even with limits.


Proponents, including former first lady Nancy Reagan and 58 Democrats and Republicans in the Senate, say the focus should be on the possibility of cures for diseases such as diabetes and Alzheimer’s. Former President Reagan suffered from the latter for a decade before his death June 5 due to related pneumonia.


Mr. Fox, best known for the “Back to the Future” movies and his role as young Republican Alex P. Keaton on the 1980s sitcom “Family Ties,” has added star power to the debate. He said yesterday that Mr. Bush’s restriction on stem cell research “was kind of like he gave us a car and no gas, and congratulated himself for giving us the car.”


Recent polls have shown as many as 80% of respondents favoring stem cell research. A Pew Research Center poll balancing potential benefits and harm found 52% saying that conducting such research toward medical cures is more important than opposing it based on not destroying human embryos. Thirty-four percent said it was more important not to destroy human embryos.


Meanwhile, in Iowa, the president said Mr. Kerry’s policies “are dangerous for world peace. If they were implemented they would make this world not more peaceful but more dangerous.”


The Kerry campaign answered back, “If George Bush thinks John Kerry’s plans to strengthen the military, build alliances, and implement the 9/11 commission’s intelligence reforms will make the world a more dangerous place, he’s even more detached from reality than he demonstrated at the debate the other night.”


Mr. Bush lost Iowa four years ago by fewer than 5,000 votes, and the president used the trip to play off his frequent portrayal of Mr. Kerry as a candidate who shifts his stand on the war in Iraq.


“You may have noticed he changes his position quite frequently, but not on taxes,” Mr. Bush said. “In his 20 years in the Senate, he’s voted to raise your taxes 98 times. Now all of a sudden he saying he’s for middle-class tax relief.”


The New York Sun

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