Clinton Promises To Withdraw Bush's Restrictions Stem Cell Research

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Democratic candidate for presidential nomination, said that if elected, she would withdraw President Bush's restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. Clinton issued the statement at the Carnegie Institution of Washington wherein she also accused Bush of having "declared war on science" by mixing politics into decisions about health issues, including stem cell research and the availability of contraceptives without prescriptions.

Federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research currently is allowed only for research using embryonic stem cell lines created on or before Aug. 9, 2001, under a policy announced by Bush on that date. Bush in June vetoed a bill (S5) that would have allowed federal funding for research using stem cells derived from human embryos originally created for fertility treatments and willingly donated by patients. Bush also issued an executive order to NIH asking scientists to pursue research on stem cells that "are derived without creating a human embryo for research purposes or destroying, discarding or subjecting to harm a human embryo or fetus".