Morning Call – June 1, 2005

Stem Cell, Mike Fitzpatrick

 

Dear Friends,

            Good morning. Will Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick (R-8th District) be in trouble next year, I asked Gary Shorts, the former Call Publisher? We were playing a round of golf. (I should say he was playing and I was hacking.) Fitzpatrick had just cast his vote opposing the lifting of restrictions on embryonic stem cell research.

The bill, which passed [238-194], would allow federal funding for stem cells from unused embryos destined for disposal. Donors would have to give written permission. Patients and doctors would certify that no money changed hands; the embryos would never be implanted in a woman; and were destined to be thrown away.

“Unused embryos are frozen, and each year, an estimated 8,000 embryos are discarded as hospital waste,” Ricardo Alonso- Zaldivar wrote in the Call (May 25).

Fitzpatrick told me last year that he opposed embryonic stem cell research because it destroyed life. On the other hand, Congressman Charlie Dent (R-6th District) supported easing restrictions.

My question is, when does life begin?

If a fertilized egg does not adhere to the womb, no pregnancy occurs. “If scientists use the very fertilized eggs that in nature are always falling by the wayside, then where is the great ethical leap- the danger to us all?” Richard Cohen wrote for the Call (May 27).

Depending on your religious affiliation, life begins [or doesn’t] when a fertilized egg is attached to the womb. President Bush’s position is identical to religious conservatives who believe that a fertilized egg sitting in a Petri dish in a scientist’s lab is a human being.

I don’t.

Most Americans support embryonic stem cell research. In moderate to liberal Bucks County, support for lifting restrictions outweighs the President’s view. Former Congressman Jim Greenwood advocates stem cell research. He presides over a biotech company, which promotes it. Greenwood’s wife has just joined the board of Planned Parenthood in Bucks, which favors easing the Bush restrictions as well.

Will Fitzpatrick’s vote come back to haunt him?

“Fitzpatrick will come out of this unscaved,” predicted Shorts. “He’s very popular and a hard campaigner. I think he’ll win.”

Fitzpatrick did vote for a companion bill, which would provide $79 million in federal funds to collect stem cells from umbilical cord blood. That bill passed 431 to 1.

The other question facing legislators is whether the Bush restrictions are playing into the hands of research and discovery in foreign countries. Great Britain and South Korea fund unrestricted stem cell research. South Korean scientists claim to be making breakthroughs.

            In addition, the U.S. Senate appears ready to pass similar legislation, which flies in the face of the president. Bush vows to veto bills, which would lift his restrictions.        

            Three area physicians with different religious backgrounds disagree with the president. “Why deny Americans the opportunity of discovery,” Dr. Joseph O’Neill asked last year when we discussed the subject? A Catholic, O’Neill is a family practitioner in Ottsville and a former President of the Bucks County Medical Society.

            “Let scientists pursue cures without government interference,” echoed Dr. Yung Sup Kim, a retired Quakertown physician and a Protestant.

            “The president has bad policy, absolutely,” Dr. Himanshu Patel replied. A Hindu, Patel’s family practice is in Skippack. “We should improve the health quality of every living person,” he added. “Why not change defective or diseased genes?”

We’ll discover in 2006 whether Fitzpatrick has the Teflon qualities, which former President Regan had. Stay tuned.

 

Sincerely,

            Charles Meredith

 

MeredithIII@comcast.net