Posted on 07/18/2006 4:39:37 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - Sens. Rick Santorum and Arlen Specter, both Pennsylvania Republicans, couldn't be further apart on the issue of embryonic stem cell research.
Santorum, a conservative struggling to win re-election, is against it, equating the process to abortion. He says harvesting the master cells from embryos less than a week old and killing the embryos in the process "destroys human life."
Specter, a cancer survivor, is leading the fight to expand federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, taking on President Bush and siding with medical researchers who say it could someday produce cures for cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease and other crippling ailments.
But Specter also is co-sponsoring Santorum's bill that essentially endorses what already is unfettered federally funded research utilizing stem cells derived from sources other than embryos.
Some look at it as payback for Santorum coming to the aid of the more moderate Specter during a 2004 primary challenge.
By advocating Santorum's bill, Specter is potentially helping Santorum pick up votes in the Philadelphia suburbs — a huge voting bloc full of moderate Republicans where Specter is popular.
Larry Smar, spokesman for Santorum's Democratic opponent, Pennsylvania Treasurer Bob Casey, said Monday he doesn't know Specter's motive but that Santorum is "trying to fool the people of Pennsylvania into thinking he supports the other Specter stem cell bill."
Specter said Monday the two bills are very different, and he denied the claims made by the Casey campaign about Santorum.
"I think it's very useful to explore all the alternatives, and the Santorum-Specter bill does explore the long-range alternative without destroying the embryo," Specter said.
Santorum has said that because Bush is expected to veto Specter's bill expanding federal funding for embryonic cell research, his bill opens doors "that may not have some of the ethical concerns."
Senate Democrats contend that Santorum's bill opens no new doors, that the National Institutes of Health is already doing everything his bill allows.
"It may have more political science impact than real science impact," Sen. Richard Durbin (news, bio, voting record), D-Ill., said at a recent hearing.
Santorum also is sponsoring a bill with Sen. Sam Brownback (news, bio, voting record), R-Kan., that would ban so-called "fetal farming," the possibility of developing fetuses, then aborting them for scientific research.
Santorum endorsed Specter in his tough 2004 primary fight against conservative Pat Toomey, which he won with 51 percent of the vote. Some conservatives are still bitter about the endorsement.
Santorum, the No. 3 Senate Republican, is trailing in polls by the double-digits against Casey, who, like Santorum is Catholic and against abortion. Casey also opposes federal funding for research using stem cell lines culled from embryos after 2001.
"Any help that Santorum might be able to receive there and be able to kind of align with Specter is probably welcome given the nature and the difficulty of the race that Santorum is facing," said Chris Borick, a pollster at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa.
Ken Davis, the Republican Party chairman in Montgomery County, in the Philadelphia suburbs, said Specter has pledged to help Santorum get re-elected, and their work together on the divisive stem cells issue is evidence of it.
"To the extent he and Rick got together on this, I think is just another example of Arlen's leadership and Rick's willingness to work with people who have a different view," Davis said.
So far however it has only produced mega tumors in mice, and maybe some day fossils will prove that man actually descended from apes, until that happens, I think we should stick with adult stem cell research, which by the way has produced some cures, and until we find a real link, and not a fraud man created by some not so intelligent design liberal hell bent on proving there is no God. I'll stick with the theory that an intelligence produced the human eye and brain.
Poor Rick Santorum. I hope like everything the guy wins but he pissed into the wind in '04 when he campaigned for Specter against a great Conservative, Pat Toomey, in the PA GOP Primary.
Sorry Rick.....but many Conservatives have great memories and can be as mean as a striped snake. Start cleaning out your desk.
I think Rick is great, and I support him on his opposition to same-sex unions and his hard line on illegal immigration--BUT, on the issue of funding embryonic stem cell research he has fallen into the camp of mystics and superstitious. Part of what separates our society from dark, savage places like the Middle East (except the rational state of Israel) is our embrace of science and rationality, and rejection of nonsense like creationism and intelligent design. I think adult stem cell research is great and should be funded, but funding adult stem cell research ONLY is like fighting with one hand tied behind ones back. Rick is sticking to his principles, but is destroying his Senate career IMO.
I agree with every word you said, 100%. I couldn't have said it better myself.
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