Backlash in US against embryo research recommendations

Prominent Republicans have spoken out against recommendations on the federal funding of embryo research made last month by President Clinton's National Bioethics Advisory Commission. A major battle looks likely when Congress considers the annual budget for the Department of Health and Human Services this summer. The Commission's report urges Congress to lift its funding ban for some areas of human embryo research in the wake of the therapeutic possibilities raised by last year's embryonic stem cell breakthrough.

The Commission concluded that the potential for developing tissue transplant therapies for a number of untreatable disorders means it would be unethical not to fund relevant research. At the time of the report's publication, a coalition of 30 patient advocacy groups lobbied Congress to repeal the 3-year old funding ban. However, a spokesperson for Trent Lott, the anti-abortion Senate Majority Leader, said the chance of the Senate voting to lift the funding ban this session is non-existent.

The House Speaker, Dennis Hastert (Rep.), is known to be strongly anti-abortion. It is likely that the funding ban will remain in place, although the anti-abortion lobby remain concerned about the proposed new National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding guidelines which they believe would allow NIH to get around the ban.