South End Grounds

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Rich Galen has some thoughts on Sen. Frist and stem cells.  He also works in a nice Ren and Stimpy allusion.  Galen contends that Sen. Frist and President Bush are not that far apart on stem cells. The entire article is in the extended entry of this post, but here is the key takeaway.

To Dr. Frist: I went to his Senate website and, sure enough, his statement on stem cell research was posted there (a link is also available on the SDR).

He refers to a floor statement on this issue which he made four years ago and specifically points us to point number five which read: 5. Provide Funding for Embryonic Stem Cell Research Only From Blastocysts That Would Otherwise Be Discarded So this is hardly a new position for Frist.  Not only that, but the first point in his proposal was: Ban Embryo Creation for Research In his statement last week, Frist pointed out that when President Bush announced his policy allowing for Federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, "it was widely believed that 78 embryonic stem cell lines would be available for federal funding. That has proven not to be the case. Today only 22 lines are eligible. Moreover, those lines unexpectedly, after several generations, are starting to become less stable and less replicative than initially thought." So, the daylight between the positions of President Bush and Senator Frist is much, much more narrow that the distance between the position of President Bush and that of President Clinton.

Don't miss a letter Galen received from a physician that has some good background on why federally funded stem cell research is subject to more ethical guidelines than privately funded research.  (I hope to have more on that topic in the coming days.

Click on the link below to read Galen's entire post.

Did You See Senator Frist's Big Announcement

FRIST ANNOUNCES $100 MILLION FOR I-69
Funding will complete first third of Tennessee portion of the corridor

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) today announced that the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) includes $100 million he secured, which will support completion of the first third of the Interstate 69 (I-69) corridor in Tennessee.  The first section ready for completion will extend Interstate 69 from Dyersburg to the Kentucky border, and remaining sections will receive support for design and right of way activities.

This will be a huge economic boon for West Tennessee and shouldn't be overlooked.  But it was overshadowed by other news, perhaps you heard it or thought about it when you read the title of this post.  Sen. Frist went to the floor of the Senate and announced his support for increased funding for embryonic stem cell research. 

 

Help Me Out Here

I'm going to surprise you here, especially if you know me and my staunch belief in the sanctity of life. I've written about embryonic stem cell research without taking a firm position on it but leaning against it.

I can't believe I'm writing this and lightning is going to strike me any second. But I got to thinking while I was watching the Democratic convention. (Shocking, I know) It was about the time Ron Reagan said this:

Now, imagine going to a doctor who, instead of prescribing drugs, takes a few skin cells from your arm. The nucleus of one of your cells is placed into a donor egg whose own nucleus has been removed. A hit of chemical or electrical stimulation will encourage your cell's nucleus to begin dividing, creating new cells which will then be placed into a tissue culture. Those cells will generate embryonic stem cells containing only your DNA, thereby eliminating the risk of tissue rejection. These stem cells are then driven to become the very neural cells that are defective in Parkinson's patients. And finally, those cells -- with your DNA -- are injected into your brain where they will replace the faulty cells whose failure to produce adequate dopamine led to the Parkinson's disease in the first place...

By the way, no fetal tissue is involved in this process. No fetuses are created, none destroyed. This all happens in the laboratory at the cellular level.