Originally published August 20 2005
Senate majority leader Frist supports fewer limitations on stem cell research
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Senate majority leader and republican Bill Frist, a heart and lung transplant surgeon, has said he would support legislation that would remove some of the Bush administration's restrictions on embryonic stem cell research.
Breaking with President Bush, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Friday he will support legislation to remove some of the administration's limitations on embryonic stem cell research.
Frist, who last month said he did not support expanded federal financing of such research, said his decision was consistent with both his experience as a physician and his opposition to abortion.
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"Now is the time to expand the president's policy because it's promising research, but it must be done in a way that is ethically considerate, that respects the dignity of human life,'' said Frist, who also is a heart and lung transplant surgeon.
The Tennessee Republican, who has been said to be eyeing a run for the GOP presidential nomination in 2008, said only stem cells from embryos that "would otherwise be discarded,'' not implanted in a woman or frozen indefinitely, should be considered for research.
Interviewed on ABC's Good Morning America, Frist said his decision was based on policy, not politics.
Almost two-thirds of Americans say they support embryonic stem cell research and a majority of people say they would like to see fewer restrictions on taxpayer funding for those studies, according to recent polls.
"From those cells we have the potential for looking at those diseases that everybody knows about: Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and others,'' Frist said.
The senator planned to further outline his policy in a speech on the Senate floor later Friday.
Frist credited Bush with opening the doors for federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, and said when this policy was announced in 2001, policy-makers thought 78 stem cell lines would be available.
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