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Skriven 2007-06-20 23:30:56 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (070620) for Wed, 2007 Jun 20
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Fact Sheet: Advancing Stem Cell Research While Respecting Moral Boundaries
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For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary June 20, 2007

Fact Sheet: Advancing Stem Cell Research While Respecting Moral Boundaries
President Bush Takes Action To Support Ethical Research, Vetoes Bill
Overturning Balanced Stem Cell Policy

ÿÿWhite House News

ÿÿÿÿÿ President Bush Discusses Stem Cell Veto and Executive Order ÿÿÿÿÿ
Message to the Senate of the United States ÿÿÿÿÿ Executive Order: Expanding
Approved Stem Cell Lines in Ethically Responsible Ways ÿÿÿÿÿ In Focus:
Health Care

Today, President Bush Signed An Executive Order To Strengthen Our Nation's
Commitment To Research On Pluripotent Stem Cells. Scientists have recently
shown they have the ingenuity and skill to pursue the potential benefits of
pluripotent stem cell research - research on cells that have the potential
to develop into nearly all the cell types and tissues in the body - without
endangering human life in the process. By expanding support for
non-destructive research methods, this Executive Order will make it more
likely that these exciting advances continue to unfold.

  þ President Bush Also Vetoed A Bill That Would Overturn His Careful,
    Ethical Approach To Stem Cell Research. If this legislation became law,
    it would compel American taxpayers - for the first time in our history
    - to support the deliberate destruction of human embryos. The President
    has made it clear to Congress and the American people that he will not
    allow the Nation to cross this moral line.

In August 2001, President Bush Announced A Policy To Advance Stem Cell
Research In A Way That Is Ambitious, Ethical, And Effective. President Bush
was the first president to make Federal funds available for human embryonic
stem cell research - and his policy did this in ways that would not
encourage the destruction of embryos.

  þ The President Believes We Must Pursue The Possibilities Of Science In A
    Manner That Respects Human Dignity And Upholds Our Moral Values.
    Destroying human life in the hopes of saving human life is not ethical,
    and it is not the only option before us. Technical innovation in this
    difficult area is opening up new possibilities for progress without
    conflict or ethical controversy.

  þ The President's Careful Approach Is Producing Results. Since 2001, the
    Administration has made $130 million dollars available for research on
    stem cell lines derived from embryos that had already been destroyed
    before the President's policy was announced. It has also provided more
    than $3 billion in Federal funding for research on all forms of stem
    cells, including those from adult and other non-embryonic sources. This
    funding has contributed to proven therapeutic treatments in thousands
    of patients with many different diseases, and it is opening the
    prospect of new treatments and cures that could transform countless
    lives.

Recent Scientific Breakthroughs Are Showing Stem Cell Science Can Progress
While Respecting Moral Boundaries

There Have Been Advances In Therapies That Use Stem Cells Drawn From
Adults, Children, And The Blood From Umbilical Cords - With No Harm To The
Donor.

Researchers Are Now Developing Promising New Techniques That Offer The
Potential To Produce Pluripotent Stem Cells - Without Having To Destroy
Human Life.

  þ This month, several new studies showed the potential of reprogramming
    adult cells, such as skin cells, to make them function like embryonic
    stem cells.

  þ In January 2007, scientists discovered that cells extracted from
    amniotic fluid and placentas could also provide stem cells that seem to
    do what embryonic stem cells can - without creating or destroying
    embryos.

The Administration Is Taking Immediate Action To Increase Our Support For
These Researchers In Their Vital Work

Today, President Bush Issued An Executive Order To Strengthen Our Nation's
Commitment To Research On Pluripotent Stem Cells. The Order:

  þ Directs the Department of Health and Human Services and the National
    Institutes of Health to ensure that any human pluripotent stem cell
    lines produced in ways that do not create, destroy, or harm human
    embryos will be eligible for federal funding.

  þ Expands the NIH's Embryonic Stem Cell registry to include all types of
    ethically produced human pluripotent stem cells.

  þ Renames the registry the Pluripotent Stem Cell Registry - so that it
    reflects what the stem cells can do, instead of where they come from.

  þ Invites scientists to work with the NIH, so we can add new ethically
    derived stem cell lines to the list of those eligible for Federal
    funding.

President Bush Calls On Congress To Pass Legislation That Would Authorize
Additional Funds For Ethical Stem Cell Research So He Can Sign It Into Law.
The Senate recently passed a bill that would authorize additional Federal
funding for alternative stem cell research, and the President calls on the
House to pass similar legislation.

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