米共和党上院院内総務、ＥＳ細胞研究で大統領に反旗

７月２９日、フリスト米共和党上院院内総務は連邦予算で行う胚性幹細胞研究を拡大する法案に支持を表明した（２００５年　ロイター/Shaun Heasley）

米共和党上院院内総務、ＥＳ細胞研究の拡大を支持 (ロイター 2005/07/30)

　［ワシントン　２９日　ロイター］　フリスト米共和党上院院内総務は２９日、連邦予算で行う胚性幹細胞（ＥＳ細胞）研究を拡大する法案に支持を表明した。

　今回、上院有力者のフリスト院内総務が同法案を支持したことで、ブッシュ大統領が２００１年に発動したＥＳ細胞研究に対する規制が覆される可能性がかなり大きくなった。

　同院内総務は上院での演説で、「私は中絶反対派であり、人間の生命は受胎から始まると信じている」と述べた上で、「同様に、ＥＳ細胞研究が奨励され支持されるべきだと確信している」と付け加えた。

米上院の共和党リーダー、ＥＳ細胞研究で大統領に反旗 (日本経済 2005/07/30)

　【ワシントン＝吉田透】米共和党のフリスト上院院内総務は29日、人間の胚（はい）性幹細胞（ＥＳ細胞）を利用する医療研究について、規制を緩和して米連邦政府の予算をもっと使いやすくすべきだとの考えを表明した。ブッシュ大統領は生命倫理上の理由でＥＳ細胞の研究を厳しく制限しているが、盟友である上院の共和党リーダーが公然と反旗を翻す異例の事態となった。

　大統領は2001年、人間の受精卵を壊さないと作れないＥＳ細胞の研究が非倫理的だとして、厳しい規制を課した。この決定以前に作られていたＥＳ細胞にしか連邦政府の研究助成金を支給しないとしたため、米国の研究は停滞している。

　米議会では米国内での研究の遅れを懸念する声が強まり、米下院はＥＳ細胞研究の規制を緩和して政府研究助成金を使いやすくする法案を可決した。上院にも同様な法案が提出されていたが、フリスト院内総務が法案支持の考えを示したことで審議に大きな影響を与えるのは必至だ。 (23:05)

与党トップが大統領に反旗　万能細胞で、米政権に打撃 (共同 2005/07/30)

　【ワシントン３０日共同】　再生医療の切り札と期待される「万能細胞」の研究をめぐり、保守派を支持層とするブッシュ米政権の規制政策に対し、与党共和党のフリスト上院院内総務は２９日、規制を緩和する法案を支持すると表明、公然と反旗を翻した。

　規制緩和の法案は既に下院で可決、上院でも可決される可能性がある。大統領は上下両院を通過しても拒否権を行使すると言明、主要な政策課題で大統領と与党トップが対立するのは極めて異例で、ブッシュ政権にとって打撃となりそうだ。

　万能細胞は、胚（はい）性幹細胞（ＥＳ細胞）と呼ばれ、あらゆる細胞に成長できるのが特徴。人の受精卵からつくられることから、「生命尊重」を重視するキリスト教保守派を支持基盤とする大統領は連邦予算を使った研究を厳しく規制してきた。

　フリスト氏は同日、上院で演説し「大統領の政策は変更されるべきだ」と主張。背景には、世界的に発展するこの分野の研究で立ち遅れることへの米議会の懸念がある。


Senate leader backs expanded stem cell research
By Joanne Kenen
Fri Jul 29, 3:58 PM ET - Reuters

In a rare break with President Bush and anti-abortion conservatives, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist on Friday endorsed legislation that would expand federally funded embryonic stem cell research.

Frist, a Tennessee Republican and surgeon who may seek his party's presidential nomination in 2008, endorsed a bill already passed by the U.S. House of Representatives that would overturn the limits on the research Bush imposed in 2001.

His backing, which could alienate the most staunchly anti-abortion conservatives but attract support from moderates in a potential White House bid, significantly improves chances of the legislation passing.

Bush has vowed to veto the legislation because embryos are destroyed when the stem cells are extracted.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush had not wavered in his moral opposition to the research but when Frist informed him of his decision by telephone on Thursday night, the president told him, "You've got to vote your conscience."

Patients suffering from diabetes, Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injuries and other debilitating and life-threatening disorders have been clamoring for more federal dollars for stem cell research. Opinion polls show growing support for its expansion, even among many conservatives like Frist who generally oppose abortion.

"I am pro life, I believe human life begins at conception," Frist said in a Senate speech. "I also believe that embryonic stem cell research should be encouraged and supported."

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and other House conservatives called on Bush to stick to his pledge to veto the bill. DeLay, a Texas Republican, likened "destructive embryonic stem cell research" to abortion and euthanasia.

The bill, approved in the House and likely to come up in the Senate after the August recess, would allow federally funded research on stem cells derived from leftover embryos in fertility clinics. There are currently about 400,000 such frozen embryos, many of which will otherwise be destroyed.

Frist said he wanted to see some relatively minor changes in the bill, but the legislation's authors said his concerns would not complicate or delay passage.

Word of Frist's decision sent shares of companies involved in the field sharply higher.

DIVERSE SUPPORT FOR RESEARCH

Backers of the expanded research were jubilant that Frist had thrown his political and scientific weight behind them.

"It's an earthquake," said Pennsylvania Republican Arlen Specter, a cancer patient who sometimes carries an hourglass with him to stress the need to hasten the research.

"My heart really jumped," said an elated California Democrat Dianne Feinstein.

Frist has been a staunch ally of Bush's and has generally hewed to a conservative, anti-abortion line as Senate leader. He championed broader stem cell research in July 2001 -- but then endorsed the strict limits Bush imposed a month later.

Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition, warned that Frist cannot "turn around and expect widespread endorsement from the pro-life community if he should decide to run for president in 2008."

But the moderate Republican Main Street Partnership praised Frist. A group called StemPAC stopped airing an anti-Frist television ad in the key presidential primary state of New Hampshire.

Frist's image as a doctor-politician was marred during the Senate fight last March over the Terri Schiavo case, when he appeared to diagnose the brain-damaged Florida woman on the Senate floor based on a video clip on the Internet.

On stem cells, Frist said he had concluded that Bush's limits were no longer suitable given the promise of the research. The research, he said, holds out too much hope.

At the time Bush set the policy, it was believed that 78 stem cell lines would be available to scientists. In fact there are only 22, and they are poor quality and contaminated with mouse cells.

Expanded cell research is supported by an ideologically, religiously and geographically diverse group, including liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats, Catholics, Protestants, Mormons and Jews. Lead sponsors in the Senate include strongly anti-abortion Republicans Orrin Hatch of Utah and Gordon Smith of Oregon.

Among the bills most prominent supporters is former first lady Nancy Reagan, whose husband, former President Ronald Reagan, died of Alzheimer's in June 2004. She issued a statement saying, "Thank you Dr. Frist for standing up for America's patients."