IF PRESIDENT George W. Bush vetoes liberalisation of stem cell regulations, as he has promised, he will risk damaging Republicans鈥� chances in this year鈥檚 congressional elections. So said Democratic Congresswoman Diana DeGette, speaking in London on 1 June while on a bipartisan congressional delegation investigating how the UK regulates stem cell research.
鈥淚f the president stands in the way of the law, there will be political consequences鈥�
The US Senate is expected to back the loosening of restrictions on stem cell research in a few weeks鈥� time. Public support for such work is rising fast: 72 per cent of Americans now agree with it, according to recent polls.
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鈥淚f the president stands in the way of something that鈥檚 widely supported, there will be political consequences,鈥� DeGette told a press conference in London. 鈥淚t could become a big election issue if Bush vetoes the law.鈥�
The idea of the proposed law, approved a year ago by the House of Representatives, is to make embryonic stem cells more freely available to federally funded stem cell researchers. Such researchers may at present work with only 22 lines of stem cells, all derived before 9 August 2001.
Cells from these lines cannot be used clinically, however, because they are contaminated by the mouse cells they are grown on. The bill before Congress would allow federal researchers to harvest embryonic stem cells from surplus IVF embryos that are destined for destruction. It would also pave the way for federal oversight of all US embryo and stem cell research. At present, the private sector is unregulated.
