Miller Newsletter June 8
Congress has passed S. 5; a bill that authorizes expanded federal funds for research using stem cells from human embryos. I voted "No." This bill disregards the sanctity of life and American taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize something so ethically controversial.
I believe the embryo is a human being from the moment of fertilization; therefore, I consider embryonic stem cell research to be unethical and morally unacceptable. I am hopeful that the medical community will be able to develop techniques using stem cells to solve many of today's major medical problems without taking the life of an unborn child or using discarded embryos. We should recognize the advantages of adult stem cell research and treatments that are already being utilized today.
There continues to be medical and scientific breakthroughs in the adult stem cell research field today. Adult stem cells have been used in human applications for over two decades, and patients suffering from over 73 different diseases and disorders are being treated today with experimental adult stem cell treatments. When compared to embryonic, adult stem cells and those found in umbilical cord blood are less likely to develop tumors and less like to be rejected by the patient since many of these cells are already in the human body. Adult stem cells can be found in dental pulp, bone marrow, and fat cells. Medical researchers must continue to seek new alternatives to address health problems. Curing diseases is a difficult process and we must do whatever is possible to help those suffering from disease while at the same time protecting human life.
Through the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the federal government currently provides over $600 million annually for stem cell research and has provided $196 million for embryonic stem cell research alone since 2003. In addition to federal funds, state governments and private donors have contributed funds to embryonic stem cell research, often compensating when public funding for research lapses.
I am a cosponsor of H.R. 322, Alternative Pluripotent Stem Cell Therapies Enhancement Act of 2007, which will accelerate federal funding for non-embryonic pluripotent stem cell research. Pluripotential refers to self-replicating human stem cells that are known to develop into cells and tissues of the three primary germ layers, the same primary layers of cells in the embryo from which all tissues and organs develop. This funding will enable the medical community to continue this cutting-edge research without the destruction of embryos or the farming of embryos for the purpose of destroying them.
President Bush announced in his federal stem cell policy address to the nation on August 9, 2001, "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."
Clearly, this issue of stem cell research is one of the most difficult ethical concerns our nation faces today and I stand firm in my opposition to requiring your taxpayer dollars to support embryonic stem cell research.