Human stem cells undergo division.
The global reaction to President Obama’s decision to increase the amount of federal of federal funding is pouring in – and it reveals something quite surprising: Continental European bans on stem cell research are more strict than they were in George W. Bush’s America; and with America set to go full-bore into stem-cell research, the pressure is growing elsewhere to ‘get in the game’ or be left behind.
Here is a four-article sampling on the subject from the Europeans.
Hartmut Wewetzer of Germany’s Der Tagesspiegel writes in part:
“In recent years, U.S. scientists had to look on with gritted teeth as generous aid was allocated to human embryonic stem cell research in Great Britain, Israel, Scandinavia and even Catholic Spain. … The U.S. is at the forefront of scientific research and its re-involvement in one of the most important areas of basic medical research is a boon to the entire world. … Germany, with its strict laws against stem cell research, still has time to reflect. But sooner or later time will run out. And the same politicians that now oppose relaxing these laws on moral grounds will likely change their plea … on moral grounds, of course.”
Maurizio Molinari of Italy’s La Stampa writes in part:
“Obama’s faith isn’t about dogma, whatever Church or religion they belong to, but the commitment to pursue the ‘common good,’ a goal which he recognizes both in the teaching of Abraham Lincoln, who didn’t seek revenge against soldiers of the South once they were defeated, and the words of St. Augustine, who said ‘Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.’ … For Europe, where stem cell research is taboo and the confrontation between secularism and religion remains ideologically entrenched, the language and policies of Obama pose a challenge that will be hard to avoid, both in terms of values and the marketplace.”
Then there was this editorial from the NRC Handelsblad headlined ‘The Stem Cell Taboo’, which reveals that even in the liberal-minded Netherlands, stem cell research remains a very-tightly controlled activity and that President Obama’s decision is getting wheels turning in that country:
“Unlike some other countries, including the United States, in The Netherlands, creating embryos in the test tube for purely scientific research is prohibited. … One continues to hope that the Dutch ban on developing [human] embryos for scientific research will be taken off the table so that patients don’t suffer unnecessarily from disease as a result of some else’s religious beliefs.”
Finally from the British – the country that gained the most from the Bush ban and with the most to lose now that the U.S. has decided to boost funding for stem cell research – this editorial from the Guardian says in part:
“Armed with his 63% job approval rating, President Obama yesterday stepped boldly into America’s culture wars and took the axe to one of George Bush’s most totemic domestic decisions – his 2001 veto on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. He did so, moreover, with undisguised and unapologetic radicalism. By signing yesterday’s order, the president said, he was making “the change that so many scientists and researchers, doctors and innovators, patients and loved ones have hoped for and fought for these past eight years”. Mr Obama has made few more important changes than this in his seven weeks in the White House. With one mighty bound, the United States has rejoined the 21st century.”
By Hartmut Wewetzer
Translated By Jonathan Lobsien
March 10, 2009
Germany – Der Tagesspiegel – Original Article (German)
It was a day long-awaited by American researchers and patient groups: On Monday, the U.S. President removed a huge barrier from the path of U.S. stem cell research. Barack Obama’s predecessor had largely blocked federal funding for stem cell research. For George Bush it was not acceptable that embryos in the early stages of development were destroyed for the production of human embryonic stem cells.
Bush’s ban is now history, even if there remains another hurdle. The Dickey-Wicker amendment, signed under Bill Clinton, forbids federal funding for experimentation on human embryos. That means that American researchers may henceforth conduct research on embryonic stem cells, but they may not extract them from embryos. At least not with money from the U.S. budget.
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