wfn.org | Church official lauds Bush's stem cell research decision

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Aug. 10, 2001 News media contact: Linda Bloom7(212)870-38037New York
10-21-71B{346}

WASHINGTON (UMNS) - The decision by President George W. Bush to limit
federal funding of stem cell research has drawn praise from the chief
executive of the United Methodist Board of Church and Society.

In an Aug. 10 statement, Jim Winkler lauded Bush's cautious decision to
provide "a space to explore the potential of embryonic stem cell research
without destroying human embryos."

Bush announced on Aug. 9 that he would allow federal tax dollars to be used
for such research, but limited the research to cells already extracted. He
said the government would not support the destruction of new embryos.

Winkler said his agency, which oversees the denomination's social action
agenda, supports the president's promise of $250 million for adult and other
non-embryonic stem cell research, along with the idea of establishing a
council to oversee stem cell research. He also applauded the appointment of
Dr. Leon Kass, an expert in biomedical ethics at the University of Chicago,
to lead the council.

The United Methodist Church has no formal position on embryonic stem cell
research, but it does officially call for a total ban on cloning human
embryos and a ban on research that "generates waste embryos." The church
also is concerned about the danger of genetics being used for "greedy
profit" and supports further study of the social, moral and ethical
implications of the human genome project.

A United Methodist Bioethics Task Force will be convened by the Board of
Church and Society in October. Embryonic stem cell research will be among
the agenda items, according to Winkler.

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The full Aug. 10 statement from the United Methodist Board of Church and
Society follows:

The General Board of Church and Society of The United Methodist Church is
thankful that President George W. Bush has decided to limit federal funding
of research on embryonic stem cells. The General Board of Church and Society
(GBCS) is the denomination's international social action agency, with
offices in New York and Washington, D.C.

"We are pleased that the president has decided to limit the federal funding
of human embryo stem cell research," said GBCS General Secretary Jim Winker.
"The president's decision is one of caution; it provides a space to explore
the potential of embryonic stem cell research without destroying human
embryos. At the same time, he promised $250 million for adult and other
non-embryonic stem cell research, a decision that we support. The
president's decision to convene a council to oversee the research is also a
good one, and we applaud his choice of Dr. Leon Kass to head this council."

The General Board of Church and Society is set to convene a United Methodist
Bioethics Task Force this October. The issue of embryonic stem cell
research, and other issues of biotechnology, will be on the agenda.

Winkler had urged the president to continue a moratorium on embryonic stem
cell research in a letter July 17, writing that "after prayerful reflection
(and) careful reading of official United Methodist policy and teachings, (I
urge) you to impose an extended moratorium on the destruction of human
embryos for the purpose of stem cell or other research. Destroying human
embryos for the sole purpose of carrying on scientific research that
promises only the possibility of potential treatments with little concrete
evidence of success raises profound and disturbing moral and ethical
issues."

The United Methodist Church, which counts the president as one of its
members, has called for a complete and total ban on human cloning and on
"procedures that intentionally generate 'waste [human] embryos' which will
knowingly be destroyed." (2000 Book of Resolutions, p. 249)
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United Methodist News Service
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