THE PRESIDENT: Good
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 planted 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
placenta. And many scientists feel research on these type 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 offer 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 argue 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's 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 lies 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.