Stem Cell Research

Embryonic stem cell research dates as far back as the early 1900’s when scientists discovered that certain cells could produce more cells in both animals and humans. In 1961, two scientists, Dr. James Till and Dr. Ernest McCulloch, proved the existence of cells that can “self-renew repeatedly for various uses.” (“Stem cell history,” 2011). Stem cells are an important element to medical research. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, “there are four primary sources for embryonic stem cells: existing stem cell lines, aborted or miscarried embryos, unused in vitro fertilized embryos, and cloned embryos.” (2008). In order to extract stem cells found within an embryo, the embryo will be destroyed in the removal process. This is where the ethical and funding debates come in to play.
The debate over embryonic stem cell research is politically divided among Democrats and Republicans. As history has shown, Democrats seem to be more supportive of expanding the research as a whole, while Republicans are only supportive of expanding the research as long as it does not involve destroying or harming human embryos. The first time the U.S. government and Department of Health and Human Services placed a ban on researching embryos was after the famous 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade that allowed private abortions. The government was worried about the aborted fetuses becoming exploited for research purposes, so they temporarily suspended the research. By the next year, Congress would suspend the federally funded research on embryos and embryonic tissue until certain guidelines could be established by the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research. In 1975, an Ethics Advisory Board was established for fetal tissue research that originates from abortions, but President Reagan halted the Board’s charter and federally funded human embryo research in 1980. The National Institutes of Health funded its first research on human embryonic stem cells in 2002, but scientists have been able to experiment with them since 1998.
It wasn’t until George W. Bush’s term began in 2001 when embryonic stem cell research became a much more prominent concern in the United States. That same year, President Bush placed a ban on the federal funding so researchers could not develop new stem cells from fertilized embryos. Bush argued that the research would be destroying human life and wanted to avoid that at all costs. The 109th and 110th Congresses both passed bills that would overturn the President’s ban, but were inherently vetoed by Bush. The 109th Congress and Bush both agreed on a bill that “banned the creation of human fetuses with the sole purpose of destroying them and harvesting their body parts” (U.S. federal stem, 2007). The 110th Congress legislation regarding stem cell researches, were commonly put into two different classifications. One of which, were the bills regarding the funding of the research and the other were bills expanding the research without using human embryonic stem cells. On April 11, 2007, the Senate passed the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007 which lifted the 2007 restriction on federally funded research for embryonic stem cells, but was essentially vetoed by President Bush shortly after.
It wasn’t until 2009 that President Bush’s 2001 ban would finally be reversed. According to the National Institutes of Health, “President Barack Obama issued an Executive Order on March, 9, 2009 to remove barriers to responsible scientific research involving human stem cells.” (2011). The order changes the way the NIH can “may support and conduct responsible, scientifically worthy human stem cell research, including human embryonic stem cell research, to the extent permitted by law.” (Federal policy). In August 2010, a Federal District Court Judge blocked the President’s order on the basis that it “violated a ban on federal money being used to destroy embryos.” (“Stem cells”, 2011). However, this ruling was eventually overturned by a federal appeals court. According to a 2011 New York Times article, “The appeals court said that because the law is written in the present tense, ‘it does not extend to past actions,’ meaning that research on existing lines of stem cells could continue” (2011). This seems to be a never ending battle between the different political parties.
There is no federal law banning human cloning all together, although “federal funding of research involving cloning for the purpose of reproduction or research is prohibited,” (Stem cell research). As compared to the United States, almost all of the other countries around the world have created extensive laws that ban embryonic stem cell research with the intent of cloning. The U.S. seems to be having more debates about the federal funding of these researches than other countries. What most people do not realize, is that embryonic stem cell research has been legal, even during the Bush administration. Federal funding for the research was banned, but private and state funding was not. California was the first state to approve a bond to fund the research based on votes from the public.
There are going to be supporters for both sides of embryonic stem cell research for years to come as there have in past years. Although the embryo would have to be destroyed in order to remove stem cells, I personally do not see the harm in using embryonic stem cells in the event that they could potentially hold cures for so many diseases and injuries. At least the funding for pluripotent stem cells, (cells that can be made without destroying an embryo and are derived from skin) should be implemented in the future. These pluripotent stem cells offer “the possibility of a renewable source of replacement cells and tissues to treat a myriad of diseases, conditions, and disabilities including Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, spinal cord injury, burns, heart disease, diabetes, and arthritis.” (Federal policy, 2011). Stem cells are extremely important for medical research, but will continue to be a controversial subject for politicians and the general public for many years. There are so many more lives that could be saved if scientists had the funding necessary to invent certain regenerative medicines. There are still many obstacles and hurdles that scientists will have to overcome through years of intensive research and experiments. However, the funding would have to last more than a year before another politician comes in and places yet another ban on government funding of the research.

References
(2011). Stem cell history. Retrieved from http://www.stemcellhistory.com/stem-cell-research-timeline/
Federal policy. In (2011). National institutes of health Retrieved from http://stemcells.nih.gov/policy/defaultpage.asp
U.s. federal stem cell legislation. In (2007). Source watch Retrieved from http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=U.S._federal_stem_cell_legislation
Stem cell research. In (2008). National conference of state legislatures Retrieved from http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/health/embryonic-and-fetal-research-laws.aspx
Stem cells. (2011, May 02). New York Times. Retrieved from http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/stemcells/index.html