Subject: Pope Urges President Bush to Oppose Embryonic Stem Cell Research
Source: AP, Reuters, CNN, ABC; July 23, 2001

Pope Urges President Bush to Oppose Embryonic Stem Cell Research

Castel Gandolfo, Italy -- Pope John Paul II urged President Bush on Monday
to reject embryonic stem cell research as Bush weighs government funding
for it. The president said, ``I'll take that point of view into
consideration.''

Bush said after his first face-to-face meeting with the pontiff that stem
cell research offers the prospect of huge medical advances but is fraught
with ``serious moral implications.''

With President Bush sitting at his side, the Pope made the following
statement:

"Another area in which political and moral choices have the gravest
consequences for the future of civilization concerns the most fundamental
of human rights, the right to life itself.

"Experience is already showing how a tragic coarsening of consciences
accompanies the assault on innocent human life in the womb, leading to
accommodation and acquiescence in the face of other related evils such as
euthanasia, infanticide and, most recently, proposals for the creation for
research purposes of human embryos, destined to destruction in the
process.

"A free and virtuous society, which America htmlires to be, must reject
practices that devalue and violate human life at any stage from conception
until natural death.

"In defending the right to life, in law and through a vibrant culture of
life, America can show the world the path to a truly humane future, in
which man remains the master, not the product, of his technology," the
Pope concluded.

His admonition raised the political stakes for Bush, who aides say is
likely to announce his decision next month.

Praising the pontiff as a spiritual and political leader, Bush promised to
take his views into consideration as he tries to ``balance value and
respect for life with the promise of science, and the hope of saving
life.''

Bush added: "He's sent a consistent word throughout the Church, and
throughout society, that we ought to take into account the preciousness of
life."

Bush praised the Pope for carrying "the gospel of life, which welcomes the
stranger and protects the weak and the innocent." Every nation, including
the U.S., the president said, "benefits from hearing and heeding this
message of conscience.

"He is a staunch defender of the right to life and the right to be heard,
even for those without a voice," said Bush

While the Pope clearly condemned the future destruction of embryos to draw
stem cells, he did not detail his views about the wide array of avenues
for stem cell research. Bush, for example, is considering potential
compromises involving research on embryonic stem cells that would
otherwise be discarded.

The Vatican seemed to close the door on that, too.

Spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the pope opposes any stem cell
research using embryos. Other sources of stem cells - such as umbilical
cord blood and adult stem cells - are less controversial and are not
condemned by the Pope. The pope himself suffers from symptoms of
Parkinson's disease. In an earlier study, embryonic stem cells used i a
study related to Parkinson's were a complete failure.

Later, at a news conference with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi,
Bush called stem cell research ``a very difficult issue'' and said he
would not be rushed to a decision.

"It is an issue that, on the one hand, deals with so much hope, hope that
perhaps through research and development we'll be able to save lives,"
Bush said during a joint news conference with Italian Prime Minister
Silvio Berlusconi.

"It's also an issue that has got serious moral implications, and our
nation must think carefully before we proceed," he said. "And therefore my
process has been, frankly, unusually deliberative for my administration.
I'm taking my time."

Bush has said the issue was "beyond politics."

"I, frankly, do not care what the political polls say. I do care about the
opinions of people, particularly someone as profound as the Holy Father,"
Bush said.

First lady Laura Bush, who also met the Pope but was not included in his
private discussions with her husband, was asked by NBC's "Today Show" if
Bush had been swayed by the Pope. "He (Bush) is looking at every side of
this issue. This is a very serious issue. He will make a very serious and
reasoned judgment when he does," she said.

Mrs Bush said she had discussed the issue with her husband but declined to
indicate where she stood on the subject.