President Barack Obama's decision Monday to open the floodgates of federal funding for destructive embryonic stem-cell research (ESCR) is a step backward for science — and a step backward for the millions of Americans suffering from disease and disability.
Obama's statements were full of glowing hope for the promise of embryonic stem-cell research and medical miracles, but his decision to rescind the Bush policy — which limited federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research — takes us down the wrong road economically, scientifically and morally.
Embryonic stem-cell researchers have been saying for years that patients deserve cures. Patients also deserve the very best investment of our tax dollars, and embryonic stem-cell research doesn't make the grade.
If embryonic stem-cell research — which always requires the destruction of young human embryos — is so promising, where are the private investors? Overall, private-sector investors steer clear of ESCR because it's financially risky and scientifically unproven. Obama is demanding taxpayers pour their hard-earned dollars into risky investments and go where most venture capitalists and drug companies fear to tread.
Despite millions and millions of dollars spent on embryonic stem-cell research, it has failed to provide a single cure, anywhere in the world. Without significant advances, it looks like this is just the latest government bailout of a morally bankrupt and financially failing industry.
The fact is that embryonic stem cells are economically deprived because they are scientifically bankrupt. Over the last 10 years, we've heard many claims about the potential for cures. But with each passing year we've heard the grandiose promise of cures grow fainter — and patients' hope fade even more.
The real promise for treating disease has been in the unsung heroes: non-embryonic stem cells. Otherwise known as adult stem cells, these ethical cells are providing treatments and cures for more than 70 diseases and conditions. Heart disease, spinal-cord injuries, cancer, genetic disorders, diabetes, Parkinson's, and many other diseases are being treated with adult stem cells. Around the world, scientists and patients are energized not only by the promise, but the real-life results they see from adult stem cells.
Does the list of diseases that adult stem cells are treating look familiar? It should. It includes the same diseases the president said embryonic stem cells might some day cure. If Obama was really concerned, as he said, about making "decisions based on facts, not ideology," we would have seen a different decision this week — one that directed Congress to continue funding research that's helping patients.
A little-known detail of Obama's executive order is that he overturned a second Bush policy that directed the National Institutes of Health to encourage the pursuit of ethical alternatives to embryonic stem cells. This 2007 order provided the incentive for scientists to pursue new forms of stem-cell research — research like iPS (induced pluripotent stem) cells, which are ordinary body cells that can be reprogrammed to behave like embryonic stem cells. Many scientists have moved away from embryonic stem cells and started investing their time and money into iPS cells.
The Obama policy will use our tax dollars to fund life-destroying, archaic research that's been left in the dust in favor of ethical treatments that have already provided hope and successful treatments for patients.
Despite Obama's step backward, there is still much to be decided when it comes to stem-cell research. For now, Obama has left some of the decisions to Congress — specifically the Dickey-Wicker Amendment, which prevents our taxpayer dollars from going toward the destruction of embryos.
So what can you do? Next time you hear about the Dickey-Wicker Amendment, remember the frustration you felt over Obama's decision to pursue unproven research.
And don't lose hope.
While the latest political developments may paint a bleak picture, the reality is that science is leading researchers down an ethical path. But none of this would have been possible if pro-life voices had not persevered in their call for ethical research. The fight isn't over; pro-lifers must continue to speak out in favor of ethical research at both the state and federal level.
