Stem Cell Research

[owlbug]

Anybody know Congressman Paul's position on this?

[Teaser Rate]

I believe he is against both funding and prohibiting it at the Federal level.

[Sam I am]

What is Ron Paul's position on X?:


I believe he is against both funding and prohibiting it at the Federal level.

[yinzer38]

FIRST SOME GENERAL BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Stem cells can be derived in a variety of ways - from specific tissues in adults, from tissue in the umbilical cord, and most controversially from embryos (since conventional methods of extracting stem cells from the embryo consequently destroys the embryo [side note: Dr. Robert Lanza demonstrated a new technique in 2007 that was able to create new embryonic stem cell lines without the destruction of the original embryos]). At a federal level, funding for research on human embryonic stem cells was limited to cells derived from the 19 different cell lines being already used for research since President Bush codified federal policy in 2001; this policy was revised in 2009 by Obama when he allowed federal funding for research involving human embryonic stem cells derived from cell lines other than the original 19 lines. To date, there has never been any federal prohibition on private research involving human embryonic stem cells.

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Dr. Paul is against the federal government subsidizing stem cell research but has no problem with stem cell research if it is done at a private level. The only issue he has with stem cell research is if violence is involved (this specifically refers to the conventional derivation of stem cells from human embryos). Dr. Paul has stated that stem cell research is important and must be done, that it is better if done at a local level, and that there are lots of ways to conduct such research and still be strongly pro-life. For reference, see the following YouTube clip starting at [3:04]: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jatLLsO3Ts

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Dr. Paul also addresses the issue of stem cell research in this YouTube video starting at [7:01]: www.youtube.com/watch?v=66jpPCIzza8

Again, he states his opposition to federal subsidies for stem cell research but proposes that states can constitutionally fund stem cell research themselves. As for human embryonic stem cells, he says that as a doctor, he has had to operate on tubal (also known as ectopic) pregnancies (where the fertilized egg does not implant in the womb and has to be removed or else the mother will almost certainly die if the pregnancy continues); Dr. Paul suggests that in such cases it would be acceptable to redirect the removed embryo towards research purposes.

[sratiug]

As I understand it, embryonic stem cells are totally unnecessary. "The Body Electric" detailed the process of reverting human cells from other tissues into undifferentiated cells several years ago using electric currents.