More Stem-Cell Reflection
Bush may not be closed-minded idiot after all
Here is another post - adult-derived -pluripotent-stem-cells consideration of the balanced approach President Bush took to the “stem-cell issue.” Written by Jay Lefkowitz, former Bush domestic-policy advisor responsible for primary White House research on the subject, the article offers a behind-the-scenes look at how the principle was reached and the decision was made.
We do not know enough yet to say whether, or to what degree, Bush’s refusal to allow federal funding to create new embryonic stem-cell lines played a role in compelling scientists to find a different approach to the issue. We do know that, in the aftermath of last November’s announcement, several leading scientists have suddenly testified in public to having harbored the very same moral doubts that led Bush to his 2001 decision. James Thomson, the foremost stem-cell researcher in the United States, put it plainly: “If human embryonic stem-cell research does not make you at least a little bit uncomfortable, you have not thought about it enough.”
This was not, to put it mildly, a view openly expressed by the scientific community in the years between Bush’s decision and the discovery of the new method. But remarks like Thomson’s, and the fact that a scientific advance unthinkable in 2001 has rendered one of the ugliest controversies of the decade all but moot, suggest that it is time to revisit Bush’s decision to see what lessons can be drawn from it.
Other articles reviewing Bush’s decision are referenced here. Lefkowitz’s article gives some background information regarding the political status of stem-cell research prior to Bush’s decision that, if had been known and more widely reported, would have altered the knee-jerk-self-righteous opinion of many.
It is en vogue these days to hate President Bush and point out all of his perceived flaws and bad decisions. I do not claim to have a comprehensive grasp of all that he has done, but as more information about more decisions during his tenure come to light it is clear that in many ways for many issues Bush was the right man at the right time for the job.
