Stem Cell Bill Returns to the Political Spotlight;
Join ASH's Advocacy Efforts to Pass H.R. 810

July 10, 2006 - The Senate has finally agreed to have a floor debate on three stem cell research bills, including a House-passed measure (H.R. 810) that would expand the number of embryonic stem cell lines that scientists can study using federal funding.

Under a unanimous consent agreement worked out by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), the Senate will vote on a three-bill package that includes the proposed Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act (H.R. 810), the proposed Alternative Pluripotent Stem Cell Therapies Enhancement Act (S. 2754), and the proposed Fetus Farming Prohibition Act of 2006 (S. 3504).

The Senate may begin debate on the three stem cell bills as early as this week, so it is critical that every member of the Senate hears from constituents about the need to pass H.R. 810. Join ASH’s advocacy campaign and send a letter to your Senators.

ASH has endorsed H.R. 810 and been active in the effort to pass this bill from the beginning, through the debate and passage in the House of Representatives, and urged this Senate vote. ASH is not taking a position on the other bills; we do not believe they change anything or allow/ban anything that is not allowed/banned already. We expect that both other bills will pass overwhelmingly as some Senators may vote for these bills to claim that they are pro-stem cell research. The research community, however, believes that a vote for the other bills will absolutely NOT be sufficient and that a Senator’s vote will only be acceptable if he/she votes for H.R. 810.

The Senate's agreement comes more than a year after the House, in May 2005, passed H.R. 810, a bill authored by Reps. Michael N. Castle (R-Del.) and Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), that would lift the current restriction on federal funding using embryonic stem cell lines created after August 9, 2001.