THEY COULD CARE LESS ABOUT THE SCIENCE:

Science Obviates Politics (JAY LEFKOWITZ, January 11, 2007, NY Sun)

The new Democratic leadership in Congress thinks it has a winning issue and possibly the votes to defy President Bush on stem cell funding. But an announcement this week by scientists at Harvard and Wake Forest universities appears to vindicate his policy and may relegate the national debate over stem cell research to a political side show.

Researchers have found that amniotic fluid is a fertile source for the kind of stem cells, called pluripotent, that can turn into several types of human cell tissue and potentially cure diseases. They already have succeeded in converting these stem cells into brain, liver, and bone cells, and even into heart cells that could grow to be replacement heart valves.

For five years, Democrats have sharply criticized the president's policy, with Democratic candidates making the issue a mainstay of their advertisements. The president has been all but blamed for the fact that millions of Americans with diseases and disabilities have not been cured. Most famously, in a speech at the last Democratic National Convention Ronald Reagan Jr. said that stem cell research "may be the greatest medical breakthrough in our or in any lifetime" and that these cells could "cure a wide range of fatal and debilitating illnesses: Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, lymphoma, spinal-cord injuries, and much more."

In order to understand the criticism of the president's stem cell policy, it is important to recall what he actually decided on August 9, 2001.