Frist Defends Stem Cell Stand

Speaking to patrons of a restauruant near Alcoa:

Frist stressed to Maupin that he still is ``pro-life'' and that he has a ``100 percent pro-life voting record.'' But as a heart surgeon, Frist said he is used to taking living tissue from one person and transplanting it ``to give life to someone else.''

Frist explained that embryonic stem cells ``can do things no other cells can do,'' including becoming any type of tissue in the body and renewing themselves indefinitely. And although it could be five or 10 years before research could be applied, Frist said embryonic stem cell research could lead to cures of diabetes, Parkinson's disease and spinal cord injuries, to name a few.

For that reason, Frist said he supports expanding the federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, on the condition that scientists use only ``leftover'' embryos that are surplus from fertility treatments.

``We should never create an embryo to destroy it,'' Frist said. ``Ideally, all (leftover embryos) would be adopted, but no one can afford to keep them perpetually frozen. For people who say, `I'm going to throw them away anyway,' parents (of the embryos) should say they can donate the cells to research.''

Posted August 17, 2005 9:18 AM