This is the eighth in a series of posts about where the six front running presidential candidates stand on the issues. The information is from the Pew Forum. Previous posts were on Abortion, the Iraq War, Gay Marriage, Poverty, Education, The Death Penalty and Immigration.
Hillary Clinton
An outspoken supporter of stem cell research, Clinton cosponsored the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005. President Bush vetoed the bill, which would have allowed federal financing of stem cell research on new embryonic stem cell lines derived from discarded human embryos originally created for fertility treatments. She has called the ethics of stem cell research "a delicate balancing act."
John Edwards
Edwards favors expanding federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. He said during the 2004 presidential campaign that with such research, "people like [actor] Christopher Reeve will get up out of that wheelchair and walk again." Bill Frist, a physician who was then Senate Majority Leader, said the comment perpetuated false hope about the potential of stem cell research.
Rudolph Giuliani
Giuliani supports loosening restrictions on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research and generally broadening such research.
John McCain
McCain opposes embryonic stem cell research that uses cloned human embryos, but supports research using human embryos left over from fertility treatments. In 2006, McCain supported a trio of Senate bills designed to increase federal funding for adult stem cell research, ban the creation of embryos for research and offer federal support for research using embryos slated for destruction by fertility clinics.
Barack Obama
Obama supports relaxing federal restrictions on embryonic stem cell research. He voted for the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005, which was vetoed by President Bush. The bill would have allowed federal funding to be used for research on stem cell lines obtained from discarded human embryos originally created for fertility treatments.
W. Mitt Romney
Romney opposes stem cell research that uses cloned human embryos, but supports research using human embryos left over from fertility treatments. He also believes that embryonic stem cell research should not be funded by the government. Prior to 2005, Romney broadly supported research on embryonic stem cells. He traces the change in his stance to an epiphany during meetings with stem cell researchers.
It seems that 4 of the 6 candidates support expansion of stem cell research with McCain and Romney favoring a more conservative approach to it. While many see this on par with the abortion issue I am not convinced that it is. Where a candidate is on abortion is more important to me than on this kind of research.
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