Kerry Calls on Bush to Reverse Stem Cell Policy

[fliptoniaaa]

PITTSBURGH (Reuters) - After a week of political silence to honor Ronald Reagan, Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry called on Saturday for a White House policy change to allow more research into Alzheimer's, the brain-wasting disease that afflicted the former president.

The senator from Massachusetts joined a growing chorus, including the voice of Reagan's widow, Nancy, in urging President Bush to remove restrictions on embryonic stem cell research that could help combat Alzheimer's.

"We must lift the barriers that stand in the way of science and push the boundaries of medical exploration so that researchers can find the cures that are there, if only they are allowed to look," Kerry said in the Democrats' weekly radio address.

Bush has placed limits on stem cell research and opposes using stem cells from most embryos.

Embryonic stem cells have the ability to produce cells that make any kind of tissue at all, and the hope is to train them to produce tissues and organs on demand.

But their origin is controversial to some people because they are taken from tiny embryos left over from IVF or test tube fertilization attempts. They can also be made using cloning technology.

A White House spokesman said the president "continues to believe strongly that we should not cross a fundamental moral line by funding or encouraging the destruction of human embryos."

Ending a self-imposed campaign hiatus that began with Reagan's death last Saturday, Kerry said, "We must look to the future not with fear, but with the hope and the faith that advances in medicine will advance our best values."

'CRUCIAL NEXT STEPS'

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee would overturn the ban on federal funding of research on new stem cell lines and allow the exploration of their full potential with ethical oversight.

Researchers say embryonic stem cells could eventually lead to brain cell transplants for Alzheimer's patients. They also hope to use embryonic stem cells to treat other ills such as Parkinson's, spinal cord injuries, heart disease and diabetes

Recalling that the morality of heart transplants had once been questioned, Kerry said, "The medical discoveries that come from stem cell are crucial next steps in humanity's uphill climb. ... Part of this nation's greatness lies in the fact that we have led the world in great medical discoveries, with our breakthroughs and our beliefs going hand in hand."

Alzheimer's affects an estimated 5 million Americans and experts say as many as 16 million will have the disease by the year 2050.

Fatal and incurable, Alzheimer's starts out as vague memory loss and progresses quickly. Patients lose their ability to find their way around, to recognize loved ones and eventually cannot care for themselves.

Nancy Reagan has made an impassioned appeal for stem cell research, saying it could help find a cure for Alzheimer's, which took her husband "to a distant place where I can no longer reach him."

"She stood up to help find a breakthrough that someday will spare other husbands, wives, children and parents from the same kind of heartache," Kerry said. "Some call this denial, but I'm sure that Nancy Reagan -- the wife of an eternal optimist -- calls it hope."

Reagan battled Alzheimer's for a decade before succumbing to complications from the disease at age 93.

Kerry and 57 other senators, including 14 Republicans, have written to Bush urging him to lift the restrictions on stem cell research.

allthough i could care lees about the reagan parts!!!!!!!!!!

Im totally with this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

...but sadly its probably just election year babble!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mrmatas2277]

OBVIOUSLY i am FOR stem cell research...i doubt the govt' will get involved any time soon...but we still have private research...