New stem-cell vote is likely soon

WASHINGTON — With Nancy Reagan's blessing and in defiance of President Bush's veto threat, Senate Republican leaders are making plans for a vote this summer on a bill to restore federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research.

The House passed the measure nearly a year ago with support from 50 Republicans. Supporters contend government funding of the budding science could someday cure diseases suffered by millions of people. Opponents argue that harvesting stem cells amounts to abortion because an embryo is destroyed in the process.

President Bush in 2001 ordered sharp restrictions on federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research, allowing it only for stem cells created before Aug. 9 of that year.

Reagan, in a statement to Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, a sponsor of the bill, gently urges the Senate to pass it despite Bush's veto threat, according to aides in both parties who have seen the letter and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., announced last summer that he supports the measure. With Republicans divided on the issue, he has been looking for a way to bring it to the floor as part of a package that stands a chance of passing.

A Senate Republican aide who spoke on condition of anonymity said tentative plans are for the House-passed bill to be brought up this summer as part of a three-measure package. The debate, expected to last no more than two days, also would include related bills to fund research on stem cells derived from other sources and ban so-called farming of embryos for scientific purposes.

Reagan's letter and a firming up of plans to tackle the issue this summer before the November elections mark a major step forward for the bill in the Senate. All 435 House seats and a third of the 100-member Senate are up for re-election at a time when Bush's approval ratings are at an all-time low.

The embryonic stem-cell debate is one issue where parting with the president is unlikely to hurt senators. An overwhelming majority of the public supports the bill, including pro-life constituencies represented by Hatch and Frist, a heart transplant surgeon.

The debate has deeply personal overtones in both chambers. Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., last year held himself up as Exhibit A of the types of illnesses that might be cured by embryonic stem-cell science. Specter last summer endured a 32-week round of chemotherapy treatment for Hodgkin's disease, his hair loss at the time a stark reminder of the issue to Bush and television viewers.