Text of President Bush’s Address Regarding Stem Cell Research
BUSH: 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
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 implanted 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 placentas. And many scientists feel research on these types
of stem cells is also promising. Many patients suffering from a range of
diseases are already being helped with treatments developed from adult stem
However, most scientists, at least today, believe that research on embryonic
stem cells offers 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
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
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 of 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 is 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 lives 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
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
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
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
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.