National Debate on Stem Cells Writ Small

United Spinal/NY coalition lobby lawmakers at state capitol.

By Rob Ingraham

Despite a record-breaking blizzard 24 hours earlier, United Spinal Association joined New Yorkers for the Advancement of Medical Research (NYAMR) on February 13 to urge New York state legislators to approve $100 million in funding for regenerative medicine, and particularly for embryonic stem cell research. Representing United Spinal with the NYAMR coalition were President Clair Russell Hesselton, General Counsel James Weisman, and Legislative Director Dan Anderson.

While the Democrat-controlled state Assembly passed a bill last December (A.6300-A) that includes significant funding for embryonic stem cell research, in January Governor George Pataki and Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno (R-43rd) announced a new Biotechnology and Biomedicine Research Initiative that was silent on the issue; that is, it did not include, or exclude, specific provisions for embryonic stem cell research. And with the 2006-2007 State Budget due on April 1, NYAMR organizers stressed the urgency of getting the Assembly bill reconciled with Sen. Bruno’s initiative and into the budget plan as soon as possible.

An Emotional Issue

At heart, the issue has little or nothing to do with money. Rather, it concerns highly charged, emotional questions of ethics and morality and mirrors a controversy that has been growing at the federal level and nationwide. Many legislators in the Republican-controlled state Senate view embryonic stem cell research as inseparable from abortion and fear that such cells will be harvested at the expense of a potential human life. The Pataki/Bruno initiative calls for an advisory committee to address ethical and moral issues on a case-by-case basis. But a number of Democrats, including Assembly Majority Leader Sheldon Silver, believe that Pataki, who may run for national office after retiring in the fall, is simply reluctant to alienate potential conservative supporters who oppose embryonic stem cell research on religious or ideological grounds.

NYAMR argues that the Assembly bill is unrelated to the abortion question because the cells that will be used are a by-product of the “in vitro fertilization” process, whereby an egg is fertilized in the laboratory and later transplanted to the womb. NYAMR member Stewart Sell, MD, a stem cell research scientist at the Wadsworth Center, a state-funded research facility in Albany, explained that “abortion is taking a viable fetus from the womb. We’re not doing that. These in vitro cells never get to the womb. We’re talking about cells in a dish.”

The in vitro fertilization procedure creates a “blastocyst,” (or a “preimplantation embryo”) which is a sphere made up of about 150 cells (by contrast, an adult human is made up of about 50 trillion cells). If a blastocyst is implanted in the uterine wall, there is a chance that it will develop into a fetus. Because in vitro fertilization is somewhat uncertain, a number of excess blastocysts are created in order to repeat the procedure, if necessary. These unused blastocysts are then frozen and stored, or destroyed if the donor requests. It is from these excess blastocysts—and with the donor’s permission—that embryonic stem cells are harvested. Scientists believe that these preimplanation embryos are being discarded in the US at a rate that far exceeds current research needs and a 2003 study by the RAND Institute and the Society of Assisted Reproductive Technology estimated that there are nearly 400,000 such embryos frozen and stored at clinics across the US. It is also estimated that about 100,000 of these blastocysts are discarded every year. NYAMR reasons that if, as opponents argue, these blastocyst “embryos” represent a potential human life, then it is far more ethically responsible to use the excess blastocysts for healing purposes than just throwing them away. As one NYAMR member noted, “Healing chronic, terminal illness is the real pro-life view.”

United Spinal’s Clair Russell Hesselton and Daniel Anderson joined NYAMR members from central New York on a series of five scheduled lobbying visits to individual lawmakers. In addition to spinal cord disabilities, the group represented the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, other autoimmune diseases such as lupus, and representatives of the Jewish philanthropy Hadassah, which helps fund embryonic stem cell research at Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem.

For the legislators willing to go on record, views split predictably along party lines: Two Republican lawmakers—Assemblyman Daniel L. Hooker (R-127th) and Senator Raymond A. Meier (R-47th)—had ethical reservations, while both Democrats—Assemblywoman RoAnn M. Destito (D-116th) and Senator Martin M. Dilan (D-17th)—were wholeheartedly supportive of embryonic stem cell research. A spokeswoman for Senator James L. Seward (R-51st) declined to take a position on the issue without consulting Seward.

Cells in a Dish or Human Beings?

Most adamant was the position of Senator Hooker. Speaking for Hooker—who is a major in the Marine Corps Reserve and is currently activated to a unit at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina—was Chief of Staff Chuck Kaiser. Kaiser said that, while Hooker supported stem cell research, he was “staunchly against” embryonic stem cell research and believes that it would set a “terrible precedent to create a life only to destroy it.” Kaiser noted that “Sen. Hooker believes that life begins at conception and he will not budge on that issue.”

Kaiser dismissed as “semantics” Dr. Sell’s argument that the Assembly bill under consideration had nothing whatever to do with abortion and was just “cells in a dish.” Hooker’s view is that embryonic stems cells are “programmed to become a human life” and that such cells are “a human being at its earliest stages” and therefore not ethically distinguishable from a fully developed fetus, a child, a teenager, an adult, or a senior citizen.

Echoing Hooker’s position was J. Dwight Evans, chief of staff for Sen. Meier. Noting that Meier is a committed, pro-life Catholic, Evans said, “The issue that’s not being addressed is whether embryonic stem cell research is destroying a potential life or not. That’s your problem. You’ve got to convince the legislators on the human life issue.”

But Democratic lawmakers were equally adamant. A spokesman for Assemblywoman Destito assured NYAMR members that they could “definitely count on” Destito’s support for embryonic stem cell research and he urged members to contact their legislators with e-mails, phone calls, letters, and personal visits and convince them of the urgency of the issue. A spokeswoman for Sen. Dilan said the senator agreed “absolutely” with NYAMR’s position and pledged his support.

While the prospects for legislation funding embryonic stem cell research this year are still very much in doubt, NYAMR members were heartened—and surprised—by a comment from Sen. Bruno at a press conference that morning. Referring to the “faith vs. science” debate, Bruno said, “The religious issue is used by those who don’t want to get something done.”

Rob Ingraham is senior editor.