On August 23, 2000, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) released final guidelines for sponsoring research that will kill human embryos in order to obtain their stem cells.

"The Clinton-Gore Administration is preparing to violate the law by funding research that will kill human embryos," said NRLC Legislative Director Douglas Johnson. "We believe these funds instead should be used for research on stem cells taken from adults, an area in which there have been many recent breakthroughs."

Since 1996, federal law (the "Dickey Amendment") has prohibited federal funding of any "research in which a human embryo or embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death . . . " Yet, under the guidelines released today, researchers would obtain advance approval from NIH for projects that require the obtaining and killing of numerous human embryos. The Administration says that this is legal as long as non-federal funds are used to actually kill the embryos -- a claim dismissed by NRLC. "If a law said that no federal funds may support ‘research in which porpoises are destroyed,’ and a federal agency then told its grantees to arrange for porpoises to be caught and killed for use in federally approved experiments, everyone would recognize this as illegal," Mr. Johnson commented.

Pro-life Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) called the NIH rules "illegal, immoral and unnecessary." Sen. Brownback noted, "It is never acceptable to deliberately kill one innocent human being in order to help another." He pointed to research reported just one week earlier that adult bone marrow cells can be turned into what appear to be nerve cells as evidence that research on embryonic stem cells is unnecessary.

At least 60 members of Congress opposed the new guidelines, along with most pro-life organizations. Pro-life Rep. J.C. Watts (R-OK) said, "This decision is a sad day for America, as the sanctity of life has yet again been denigrated by the Clinton-Gore administration."

Vice President Al Gore supports stem cell research, while Texas Gov. George W. Bush opposes it.

Meanwhile, the Senate Appropriations Committee’s panel on health held a hearing on September 13 on the question of stem cell research. Among those testifying in favor of federal funding for research involving embryonic stem cells were Michael J. Fox and Mary Tyler Moore. Pro-life witnesses who testified supported life-saving research but not at the cost of killing unborn children.

Dianne Irving, Ph.D., a professor at Georgetown University and former biochemist with the National Cancer Institute, criticized NIH for defining "these early human embryos as ‘just stem cells.’ This is only one of several scientific errors they have tried to propagate," she said.

"I’m not opposed to research," said panelist Ron Heagy, who is a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the neck down. "I’m not opposed to walking again. I’m just opposed to the process."

If you haven’t already contacted Senators Robb and Warner to urge them to oppose this funding, please do so immediately (see the Lifesaver, August 2000 action items).

For further information on recent advances in stem cell research that does not require the killing of human embryos, check the hot links in the August press release on this subject.

Published in VSHL Lifesaver, October 2000