The Gift of Life
During the first 100 hours of the 110th Congress, the house passed the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007 that finally allows the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct and support research that utilizes human embryonic stem cells, regardless of the date on which the stem cells were derived from a human embryo.
There are safeguards written into the bill to ensure that (1) the cells had been donated from in vitro fertilization clinics and (2) were created for the purposes of fertility treatment and (3) were in excess of the needs of the individuals seeking such treatment and would never be implanted in a woman and would otherwise be discarded (as determined in consultation with the individuals seeking fertility treatment); and (4) were donated by such individuals with written informed consent and without any financial or other inducements. Note that all the conditions (“and”) have to be met before the cell can be used. The bill is purposely directed at surplus cells that were created for infertility treatments and were destined for disposal.
To be opposed to stem cell research is to purposefully deny the gift of life and hope to those with diseases that have that have either no or inadequate treatments. By logical extension, to be opposed to stem cell research is to also be opposed to in vitro fertilization (IVF) and yet another gift of life and joy to infertile couples.
In casting his vote against the stem cell research bill, Mr. McHugh has turned his back on those suffering from a variety diseases. The list of those diseases for which stem cell technologies could be applied is legion: diabetes, Parkinsonism, Alzheimer’s, spinal cord injuries, Lou Gehrig’s (ALS), cystic fibrosis, stroke, burns, heart disease, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, the muscular dystrophies, kidney and liver disease that end in organ failure, and the thousands of diseases that are a result of a genetic mutation. For most of those with these diseases, a cure or therapy is nothing less than the gift of life.
But logic does not allow one to be against stem research and for IVF. IVF results in a surplus of stem cells, i.e. those cells that are not committed to specialized functions. The fate of those surplus cells, for all practical purposes is incineration. The other methods for preservation have such a high cellular mortality that for all intensive purposes the same outcome applies: destruction.
The only other alternative is to use these surplus cells as the gift of life for the living. Over my professional career as a physician, so much basic science has turned into practical therapies for disease. I have no doubt the same will apply to stem cell research.
Our congressman’s vote denying stem cell research that could help thousands of his constituents and millions of Americans was no coincidence. In 2006 he also voted against the stem cell bill that would have authorized the same thing as HR 3 this year and he also voted to uphold George Bush’s veto of that bill.
He, like many arch conservative Republicans, insist that they are not against stem cell research and will site their support of the
Fetus Farming Prohibition Act of 2006. Mr. McHugh claimed that the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2006 was “flawed” because it did not contain a Fetus Farming ban. The two bills however are complimentary, but even so, the protections in the bill that he voted against accomplished the same things as the one he voted for. The only difference was that the Stem Cell Research Enhancement act allowed federal funding of new embryonic lines. The lines now being used are essentially useless because of their age and the number of generations they have gone through. Most have chromosomal mutations and are essentially useless for research. Yet Mr. McHugh at the debate in Watertown in November 2006 gave a list of measures that he supported: all to sustain useless lines and claiming to “support” stem cell research. Characteristically saying (spinning) one thing and doing the opposite.
His vote is no coincidence. Whether it’s the Iraq war or stem cell research, Mr. McHugh is a loyal Bush foot soldier. He will try and disguise his support with vague statements about being “concerned” or “distressed” but he will not put Bush’s agenda in jeopardy. He could not find the same reasonable road that fifty other moderate members of his own party could who voted for the gift of life.
So the choice is clear, use these surplus cells as a gift of life or destroy them.
I’ll take the gift of life any day.