03/11/2009 - Obama stem-cell decision shows respect and trust (Richmond Palladium-Item)

Obama stem-cell decision shows respect and trust

"Promoting science isn't just about providing resources -- it is also about protecting free and open inquiry." -- President Barack Obama

President Barack Obama did the right thing in lifting an eight-year ban imposed by former President George W. Bush on stem-cell research.

His action should advance the cause of science and heighten hope for possible medical breakthroughs.

Are there risks in Obama's actions?

Most certainly, just as risks were inherent in the sweeping ban imposed by his predecessor.

There are regulatory risks on either side of the issue.

As Harvard University stem-cell institute spokes-man BD Colen notes, Obama's repeal "will mean the end of the quite onerous bookkeeping and segregation of supplies, equipment and people that were necessary under the Bush executive order."

Yet in his bid to mollify critics, the president promises to "develop strict guidelines, which we will rigorously enforce, because we cannot ever tolerate misuse or abuse."

It remains to be seen what kind of role the federal government carves out for itself in all this.

The ethical issues on both sides are similarly vexing. But the promise of critical medical breakthrough to some of the longest standing and most formidable ailments, from diabetes to Parkinson's, has seen stem-cell research embraced by a diverse range of people from the late Christopher Reeve to former first lady Nancy Reagan.

The executive order lifts Bush's Aug. 9, 2001, decision to withhold federal support of research on newly collected colonies of embryonic stem cells, the master cells from which all tissues are formed. Bush limited research funding, decrying the destruction of embryos necessary to harvest the cells.

But as bioethicist Jonathan Moreno of the University of Pennsylvania, who served on Obama's transition team, so aptly put it: "What we are seeing, what really is important, is a respect for evidence in decision-making that has been lacking."

There cannot be progress in any endeavor without that respect, and the trust that must accompany it.