A stem cell battle along state lines

"It is a problematic strategy because when you define an embryo as a person, what they say is: Therefore you cannot destroy them. My response is: Therefore you cannot freeze them. How can you freeze a person and keep them suspended in animation?" said Paul Wolpe, director of the Center for Ethics at Emory University. "The idea that they can pick and choose which aspect of human life will be relevant is interesting."

Americans have generally supported embryonic stem cell research, with many hoping that in time it will result in a cure for spinal cord injuries and illnesses such as Parkinson's disease and diabetes.

According to a Gallup poll conducted last month, 38% of Americans said they supported easing the restrictions on research, and an additional 14% said they favored no restrictions.

Forty-one percent said they favored keeping the Bush restrictions or eliminating all federal funding.

Part of the impetus for the debate is the division within the religious community, as well as among conservatives in general, over the issue, Wolpe said.

The Roman Catholic Church, Southern Baptists and many evangelicals oppose the use of human embryos for research, but there is no consensus in the religious community at large.

As a result, bioethicists said, conservative Republicans have not been able to make stem cell research a rallying cause among their base.

"On one hand, people want the cures that the stem cell research brings," said Wolpe. "But they also want a law that acknowledges the respect we should have for embryos. They don't want them to be treated merely as raw material for scientific research."

--

dglanton@tribune.com