Flanked by advocates for improved scientific research, U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette responded Sunday to a last-ditch GOP campaign to defeat her stem-cell research bill by appealing to Congress not to block scientists from finding cures for diseases.
In a media briefing at her Denver office, the Democrat also announced that her bill, seeking to overturn President Bush’s restrictions on government research using embryo cells, will head to a vote in the House on Tuesday, earlier than expected.
Last Friday, Bush threatened to veto her legislation.
The measure faces opposition from some conservatives, such as House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, and religious groups that say research using embryos is immoral.
“To ban just one type (of stem-cell research) is like tying scientists’ hands behind their backs and forcing them to go on to do research,” said DeGette, reacting to Bush’s statement, as well as an 11th-hour alternative proposed by House Republican leaders to encourage umbilical cord blood cell research instead of the embryo experiments.
For almost four years, DeGette has assiduously lobbied lawmakers from both parties to provide scientists access to thousands of embryos being destroyed by fertility clinics.
In 2001, Bush limited research to only certain stem cells already in existence. DeGette forged a partnership with Delaware Republican Rep. Mike Castle to launch a bipartisan bill to lift the restriction and set up ethical controls for researchers, including obtaining permission from the embryo cells’ donors.
DeGette’s staff announced that it expects to have 220 to 230 votes for the bill by Tuesday, more than the 218 needed for passage. All Democratic members of the Colorado delegation have pledged their support, according to a DeGette spokesman. Names of Republican supporters were not available.
Peter Gottlieb, a professor of medicine at the University of Colorado at Denver, stressed that not enough stem-cell donors exist in the U.S. to help find a cure for Type 1 diabetes, which robs the body of insulin.
“We only have 4,000 to 8,000 organ donors as it is,” Gottlieb said. “There’s more than 1 million who have the disease. This is the math.”
Six-year-old Alex Howard, who has the Type 1 condition, listened quietly as Gottlieb and DeGette explained the bill. Afterward, he pointed to the insulin pump clipped to his belt and said he hopes scientists one day will find a cure so he won’t have to look “different” from other kids.
“In a couple of days I go to Washington, D.C.,” Alex said excitedly. “I will ask for money for diabetes.”
Knight Ridder Newspapers contributed to this report.
Staff writer Miles Moffeit can be reached at 303-820-1415 or mmoffeit@denverpost.com.
