Senate passes stem cell research bill; unlikely to survive Bush veto

By: DAVID ESPO - Associated Press | Thursday, April 12, 2007 10:07 AM PDT ∞

WASHINGTON -- A stubborn Senate voted Wednesday to ease restrictions on federally funded embryonic stem cell research, ignoring President Bush's threat of a second veto on legislation designed to lead to new medical treatments.

Supporters of California's embryonic stem cell research said the state's $3 billion program would keep going regardless of the outcome of the debate over federally funded research.

The 63-34 vote in the Senate was shy of the margin that would be needed to enact the measure over presidential opposition, despite gains made by supporters in last fall's elections.

"Not every day do we have the opportunity to vote to heal the sick," said Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., a senator of less than 100 days following a tough 2006 campaign in which the stem cell controversy played a particularly prominent role.

"It is a noble cause," she added.

Others disagreed.

"We're going to use federal money, indirectly or directly, to destroy embryos," countered Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., echoing Bush's argument against the measure. Coburn said claims of imminent scientific breakthroughs from embryonic stem cell research are unsubstantiated, and that adult stem cells have already been shown to be useful in a variety of cases.

The House, which passed similar legislation earlier in the year, is expected to adopt the Senate's version in the next several weeks for Bush's veto.

"This legislation crosses a moral line that would use taxpayer dollars to destroy human embryos, and that's a moral line the president said he would not cross, and for those reasons he would veto this bill as well," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said not long before the vote.

But California and other states are "filling the void" left by federal restrictions, said Dale Carson, a spokesman for California's program, called the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. California's program was established by Proposition 71 in 2004. It is the largest among the states, and Carlson said California would be in the best position to benefit from advances in the research.

"Already, 35 scientists have moved to California since the passage of Prop. 71 because of the prospects of research with long-term stable funding at significant levels," Carlson said.

Stem cells are created in the first days after conception. They are typically culled from frozen embryos, which are destroyed in the process. According to the National Institutes of Health Web site, scientists have been able to conduct experiments with embryonic stem cells only since 1998.

The embryonic stem cells have the ability to transform into a "dazzling array of specialized cells," the Web site says -- the property that scientists and others say offers the potential for the development of treatment for diseases as varied as juvenile diabetes, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

The field of stem cell research has been harmed by Bush's restrictions on the National Institutes of Health, said Evan Snyder, a stem cell researcher at the Burnham Institute in La Jolla.

"The National Institutes of Health is still the major source of funding for advances in health care in this country, and as a result of the restrictions the progress is much slower than it should be," Burnham said.

Snyder has reported good results in animal tests with Bush-approved human embryonic stem cells, produced before his restrictions were imposed in 2001. However, Snyder said other researchers have to replicate those findings, and the Bush-approved lines are genetically unstable. Unforeseen changes could make therapy with these cells risky, he said.

Capping two days of debate, the Senate also appeared ready to approve a rival measure backed by Republicans. It supported research in adult stem cells.

The Senate's action marked the latest act in a drama that blends science and politics on an issue that affects millions of disease sufferers and their families.

"It's extremely frustrating to go through this Kabuki dance a second time with the president," said Peter Kiernan, head of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, which funds research.

"The one thing we know is we will outlast him."

There was no federal funding for the work until Bush announced on Aug 9, 2001, that his administration would make it available for lines of stem cells that were already in existence. Elected with the strong support of abortion foes and other conservatives, he said at the time his decision was designed to balance concerns about "protecting life and improving life."

He also limited the funds to cell lines derived from embryos that were surplus at fertility clinics, and that had been donated from adults who had given informed consent.

Advocates of the veto-threatened legislation argue that the number of stem cell lines available for research is smaller than needed, and that some of the material has become contaminated over time by mouse embryonic skin cells that typically are placed at the bottom of culture dishes used in the research.

The bill would permit funding for research on embryonic stem cells regardless of the date of their creation, so long as they were donated from in-vitro fertilization clinics, they would "otherwise be discarded" and donors gave their approval.

Bush cast the only veto of his presidency on a stem cell bill last year, but public support for the research is strong, and Democrats sought to use that to their advantage in the 2006 midterm election campaigns.

-- Bradley J. Fikes contributed to this story.

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