Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

Mr. Obama referred briefly in his 11-minute speech to the "many thoughtful and decent people,'' as he called them, who "are conflicted about, or strongly oppose'' embryonic stem cell research. He added, too, that he will support efforts - vigorously backed by Bush - "to convert ordinary human cells into ones that resemble embryonic stem cells.''

But Mr. Obama said he agrees with the majority of Americans who support research on the stem cells taken from embryos. Langevin restated his longtime acceptance of that view. "What could be more pro-life,'' he asked, than research that might lead to the alleviation of so much human suffering? Langevin also reprised his argument that there will be more than enough stem cells from embryos discarded at fertility clinics to support the necessary research.

Opponents of embryonic stem cell research strongly disagree. They argue that some scientists will push all the harder now for support for unfettered creation of new embryos expressly for research -- and even for human cloning, not necessarily to reproduce human children but to advance medical inquiry into potentially lucrative treatments and cures.

Many authorities believe that embryonic stem cells have properties that give them greater curative potential than any alternative cells. But opponents of the research assert that it is morally wrong because it entails the destruction of human embryos.

Douglas Johnson of the National Right to Life Committee asserted in a news release that, besides the moral question, Mr. Obama's action raises a serious practical worry. He said the lifting of the embryonic stem cell research ban "places our society on a very steep, very slippery slope.''

Johnson said, "many researchers will not be satisfied to use only so-called surplus embryos'' from clinics that make them to help childless women have babies. Many researchers, he said, want taxpayer support for research not only on embryonic stem cells but on the embryos themselves. Nothing in Mr. Obama's remarks yesterday would limit the National Institutes of Health to ``the use of so-called surplus embryos'' from fertility clinics, he said.

Mr. Obama pledged that his administration will write strict guidelines for research on stem cells taken from embryos. ``And we will ensure that our government never opens the door to the use of cloning for human reproduction,'' calling the practice ``dangerous and profoundly wrong.''

Langevin, too, reiterated his opposition to the cloning of human embryos. He also said that, for now at least, he sees to reason to repeal a 1996 law -- known as the Dickey-Wicker Amendment -- that specifically forbids the creation of human embryos for research.