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evening. I appreciate you giving me a few minutes of your time tonight
so I can discuss with you a complex and difficult issue, an issue
that is one of the most profound of our time.
The issue
of research involving stem cells derived from human embryos is increasingly
the subject of a national debate and dinner table discussions. The
issue is confronted every day in laboratories as scientists ponder
the ethical ramifications of their work. It is agonized over by
parents and many couples as they try to have children or to save
children already born. The issue is debated within the church, with
people of different faiths — even many of the same faith —
coming to different conclusions.
Many people
are finding that the more they know about stem cell research, the
less certain they are about the right ethical and moral conclusions.
My administration
must decide whether to allow federal funds, your tax dollars, to
be used for scientific research on stem cells derived from human
embryos.
A large number
of these embryos already exist. They are the product of a process
called in vitro fertilization which helps so many couples conceive
children. When doctors match sperm and egg to create life outside
the womb, they usually produce more embryos than are implanted in
the mother.
Once a couple
successfully has children, or if they are unsuccessful, the additional
embryos remain frozen in laboratories. Some will not survive during
long storage; others are destroyed. A number have been donated to
science and used to create privately funded stem cell lines. And
a few have been implanted in an adoptive mother, and born, and are
today healthy children.
Based on preliminary
work that has been privately funded, scientists believe further
research using stem cells offers great promise that could help improve
the lives of those who suffer from many terrible diseases, from
juvenile diabetes to Alzheimer's, from Parkinson's to spinal cord
injuries. And while scientists admit they are not yet certain, they
believe stem cells derived from embryos have unique potential.
You should
also know that stem cells can be derived from sources other than
embryos: from adult cells, from umbilical cords that are discarded
after babies are born, from human placentas. And many scientists
feel research on these types of stem cells is also promising. Many
patients suffering from a range of diseases are already being helped
with treatments developed from adult stem cells.
However, most
scientists, at least today, believe that research on embryonic stem
cells offers the most promise because these cells have the potential
to develop in all of the tissues in the body.
Scientists
further believe that rapid progress in this research will come only
with federal funds. Federal dollars help attract the best and brightest
scientists. They ensure new discoveries are widely shared at the
largest number of research facilities, and that the research is
directed toward the greatest public good.
The United
States has a long and proud record of leading the world toward advances
in science and medicine that improve human life, and the United
States has a long and proud record of upholding the highest standards
of ethics as we expand the limits of science and knowledge.
Research on
embryonic stem cells raises profound ethical questions, because
extracting the stem cell destroys the embryo and thus destroys its
potential for life.
Like a snowflake,
each of these embryos is unique, with the unique genetic potential
of an individual human being.
As I thought
through this issue I kept returning to two fundamental questions.
First, are these frozen embryos human life and therefore something
precious to be protected? And second, if they're going to be destroyed
anyway, shouldn't they be used for a greater good, for research
that has the potential to save and improve other lives?
I've asked
those questions and others of scientists, scholars, bioethicists,
religious leaders, doctors, researchers, members of Congress, my
Cabinet and my friends. I have read heartfelt letters from many
Americans. I have given this issue a great deal of thought, prayer,
and considerable reflection, and I have found widespread disagreement.
On the first
issue, are these embryos human life? Well, one researcher told me
he believes this five-day-old cluster of cells is not an embryo,
not yet an individual, but a pre-embryo. He argued that it has the
potential for life, but it is not a life because it cannot develop
on its own.
An ethicist
dismissed that as a callous attempt at rationalization. "Make no
mistake,'' he told me, "that cluster of cells is the same way you
and I, and all the rest of us, started our lives. One goes with
a heavy heart if we use these,'' he said, "because we are dealing
with the seeds of the next generation.''
And to the
other crucial question — If these are going to be destroyed
anyway, why not use them for good purpose? — I also found different
answers.
Many of these
embryos are byproducts of a process that helps create life, and
we should allow couples to donate them to science so they can be
used for good purpose instead of wasting their potential.
Others will
argue there is no such thing as excess life, and the fact that a
living being is going to die does not justify experimenting on it
or exploiting it as a natural resource.
At its core,
this issue forces us to confront fundamental questions about the
beginnings of life and the ends of science. It lives at a difficult
moral intersection, juxtaposing the need to protect life in all
its phases with the prospect of saving and improving life in all
its stages.
As the discoveries
of modern science create tremendous hope, they also lay vast ethical
mine fields.
As the genius
of science extends the horizons of what we can do, we increasingly
confront complex questions about what we should do. We have arrived
at that "Brave New World'' that seemed so distant in 1932 when Aldous
Huxley wrote about human beings created in test tubes in what he
called a hatchery.
In recent
weeks, we learned that scientists have created human embryos in
test tubes solely to experiment on them. This is deeply troubling
and a warning sign that should prompt all of us to think through
these issues very carefully.
Embryonic
stem cell research is at the leading edge of a series of moral hazards.
The initial stem cell researcher was at first reluctant to begin
his research, fearing it might be used for human cloning. Scientists
have already cloned a sheep. Researchers are telling us the next
step could be to clone human beings to create individual designer
stem cells, essentially to grow another you, to be available in
case you need another heart or lung or liver.
I strongly
oppose human cloning, as do most Americans. We recoil at the idea
of growing human beings for spare body parts or creating life for
our convenience.
And while
we must devote enormous energy to conquering disease, it is equally
important that we pay attention to the moral concerns raised by
the new frontier of human embryo stem cell research. Even the most
noble ends do not justify any means.
My position
on these issues is shaped by deeply held beliefs. I'm a strong supporter
of science and technology, and believe they have the potential for
incredible good — to improve lives, to save life, to conquer
disease. Research offers hope that millions of our loved ones may
be cured of a disease and rid of their suffering. I have friends
whose children suffer from juvenile diabetes. Nancy Reagan has written
me about President Reagan's struggle with Alzheimer's. My own family
has confronted the tragedy of childhood leukemia. And like all Americans,
I have great hope for cures.
I also believe
human life is a sacred gift from our creator. I worry about a culture
that devalues life, and believe as your president I have an important
obligation to foster and encourage respect for life in America and
throughout the world.
And while
we're all hopeful about the potential of this research, no one can
be certain that the science will live up to the hope it has generated.
Eight years
ago, scientists believed fetal tissue research offered great hope
for cures and treatments, yet the progress to date has not lived
up to its initial expectations. Embryonic stem cell research offers
both great promise and great peril, so I have decided we must proceed
with great care.
As a result
of private research, more than 60 genetically diverse stem cell
lines already exist. They were created from embryos that have already
been destroyed, and they have the ability to regenerate themselves
indefinitely, creating ongoing opportunities for research.
I have concluded
that we should allow federal funds to be used for research on these
existing stem cell lines, where the life-and-death decision has
already been made.
Leading scientists
tell me research on these 60 lines has great promise that could
lead to breakthrough therapies and cures. This allows us to explore
the promise and potential of stem cell research without crossing
a fundamental moral line by providing taxpayer funding that would
sanction or encourage further destruction of human embryos that
have at least the potential for life.
I also believe
that great scientific progress can be made through aggressive federal
funding of research on umbilical cord, placenta, adult and animal
stem cells, which do not involve the same moral dilemma. This year
your government will spend $250 million on this important research.
I will also
name a president's council to monitor stem cell research, to recommend
appropriate guidelines and regulations and to consider all of the
medical and ethical ramifications of biomedical innovation.
This council
will consist of leading scientists, doctors, ethicists, lawyers,
theologians and others and will be chaired by Dr. Leon Kass, a leading
biomedical ethicist from the University of Chicago.
This council
will keep us apprised of new developments and give our nation a
forum to continue to discuss and evaluate these important issues.
As we go forward,
I hope we will always be guided by both intellect and heart, by
both our capabilities and our conscience.
I have made
this decision with great care, and I pray it is the right one.
Thank you
for listening. Good night, and God bless America.
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