Join the ASH Advocacy Campaign for Stem Cell Research

May 24, 2006 – On the first anniversary of the House's vote to pass legislation expanding federal funding for research on embryonic stem cells, ASH and other stem cell research proponents continue to exert public pressure on Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) to put the measure to a vote.

ASH has launched an advocacy campaign to urge the U.S. Senate to vote on the Embryonic Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act (H.R. 810) with no amendments and with no other measures that restrict any avenue of stem cell-related research.

Senator Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) surprised Democrats and Republicans last July when he endorsed the bill, but he has yet to hammer out an agreement with opponents on bringing it to the floor with protection from "poison pill" amendments. Senators Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) have been the lead negotiators in drawn-out talks to bring the bill to the Senate floor and have claimed the commitments of more than 60 senators to vote for the bill.

If that vote count is accurate, the measure would pass comfortably and President Bush would be forced either to choose between vetoing it as promised or reversing himself and allowing the bill to become law.

But first, Senator Frist must contend with a deeply divided Senate Republican Conference. Many GOP senators oppose all forms of embryonic research and object to the scientific methods used in this area, which they liken to human cloning. For more than a year, Senator Frist has been trying to obtain an agreement to allow stand-alone votes on the Specter bill, Senator Sam Brownback's (R-Kan.) human-cloning-ban legislation and a third, as-yet-undetermined bill that would probably promote theoretical stem-cell research that would not require the destruction of human embryos. A deal has been elusive.

The use of stem cells in congressional politicking and electoral races across the country could complicate the talks by stiffening resistance to a vote among opponents of research on embryonic stem cells.

Nevertheless, Senator Specter remains publicly upbeat about the chances of a vote this year. Senator Frist last week reiterated his support for a bill and his commitment to a vote, saying, "I expect it this summer." Senator Specter later said "My hunch is that it will be in June."

According to a Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research (CAMR)-sponsored opinion poll, 72 percent of Americans support more embryonic stem cell research and 24 percent oppose it. Most polls have demonstrated steadily growing support for the science since Bush set the guidelines on the federal funding of it in August 2001.

ASH urges you to contact your senators about this legislation.