Arlen Specter: “Among the hearings our subcommittee has held since December of 1998, there were nine on stem cells, which burst upon the…”

“Among the hearings our subcommittee has held since December of 1998, there were nine on stem cells, which burst upon the scene in November of 1998. The President has taken a significant step forward in authorizing Federal funding for all of the stem cell lines which were in existence as of August 9 at 9 p.m. Subsequent hearings by our subcommittee have disclosed the likelihood is high that will not be sufficient to have the kind of medical research which is necessary. The determination of that will await another day, candidly, as our country has been so heavily involved on the war against terrorism. In response to very legitimate concerns which have been addressed by many about the possibility of having life from those embryos which are discarded on in vitro fertilization, we have included in this bill $1 million as a starting project to have an embryo adoption awareness campaign. In in vitro fertilization, perhaps a couple will create a dozen of these embryos. Then there will be selected three or four of the strongest embryos for implantation, for in vitro fertilization. The bulk of the remaining embryos will be discarded. An issue has been raised about the possibility of adoption of these embryos. Certainly, if it were possible to bring all of these embryos to life, no one would suggest remotely they be used for research for stem cell extraction.”