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Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
Right, but that's the issue he apparently ignored. Slave? The issue isn't "stem cell research good or bad" Even Bush doesn't object to stem cell research in itself. The problem is that it requires, a least for a fair amount of it, embryos. The only source of embryos is, well, embryos that aren't needed for implantation.
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The casual watcher of that speech would be of the mistaken belief that the Bush Administration prevents any and all stem research. This is bunk.
1) The Bush Administration is the first administration of any to provide any funding to the research.
2) Federal funding continues to this day for research conducted on the 19 existing lines of stem-cells.
3) This does not, in fact, prevent anyone from doing research using the other 40-odd lines [the number may be off] currently existing in the world. However, to do so requires private money.
4) The question at issue is whether the Federal Government - ie the taxpayer - should be paying for the destruction of human embryos. It is a worthwhile discussion and I've yet to decide where I stand on this, actually. However, Ron's speech completely missed the point in what I think was a deliberate move.
5) His "personal medical repair kit" statement - although hopefully optimistic - is about as close to reality as Dr. McCoy's tricorder.
