Former Member of President’s Bioethics Council Accuses Chairman of Pro-Life “Political” Bias



BOSTON — One of the members of the President's Council on Bioethics whose term has recently expired has co-authored a critique of the board's own reports on stem cell research. In the report, Elizabeth H. Blackburn, along with Janet Rowley, a University of Chicago biologist, accuses the Council's chairman, Leon Kass of political bias in supporting the use of adult stem cells as opposed to stem cells derived from embryos. U.S. stem cell researchers often complain of the restrictions placed on the use of embryos to create cultured stem cell lines for pure research.

The critique alleges that the council's last report, “Monitoring Stem Cell Research,” omitted recent research findings that might cast doubt on the potential of adult stem cells. Adult stem cells have been used for many years to treat all kinds of diseases in routine treatments for serious diseases such as cancer. Recently, adult stem cells were used to all but cure a patient of severe Parkinson's disease in a clinical trial.

Some of the most prominent researchers in the field have admitted that the use of cells derived from embryos will likely never be used in direct therapies for diseases, but they continue to insist that embryonic cells are necessary as an aid to other important research.

Dr. Blackburn accuses the Council of advancing a political agenda saying, “There is always this strong implication [in the reports] that medical research is not what God intended, that there is something unnatural about it.” Dr. Blackburn complained that she had been fired from the Council because of her opposition to the pro-life stance often taken by Council reports on the use of embryos in research. A spokesman for the Council said that her term had simply expired.

See also:

Bush Appoints Three Pro-Life Members to Bioethics Council

President's Panel Skewed Facts, 2 Scientists Say

(This update courtesy of LifeSiteNews.com.)

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