Washington – House Republican leaders are throwing their weight behind a bill to encourage stem-cell research that uses blood from umbilical cords. The measure offers an alternative to spending government money for research that would destroy human embryos.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., had agreed earlier to allow a vote as soon as next week on a bill by Reps. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., and Mike Castle, R-Del., to lift President Bush’s 2001 ban on the use of federal money for research using any new embryonic stem-cell lines.
But after Castle and other moderate Republicans angered conservatives by sponsoring polls in their districts on the issue, Hastert and Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said they would pair the bill with a separate measure to encourage umbilical-cord stem-cell research.
The DeGette bill has 201 co-sponsors, up from 198 last week. Passage requires 218 votes. DeGette, who has said there are enough votes for passage, said Thursday that the GOP plan was “a weak attempt to divert support from our bill.”
A Senate bill similar to DeGette’s was authored by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said last week there are enough votes to pass that proposal, though it would need 60 to overcome a filibuster.
President Bush has not said whether he would veto the bills if they pass. On Thursday, Bush spokesman Trent Duffy said the president’s stem-cell research policy “is very clear. … Human life should not be created for the purpose of destroying it. And he continues to stand firmly behind that principle.”
Supporters of embryo stem-cell research say it could lead to cures for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other diseases.
Opponents say taxpayers should not be forced to pay for such research when many of them believe that the destruction of the embryo is immoral.
Denver Post staff writer Anne Mulkern contributed to this report.
