Nancy Reagan on Obama and Stem Cell Research

[Guest eastburbguy]

I was no fan of Reagan, but Nancy is right on. Good for her!!!

< "I’m very grateful that President Obama has lifted the restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research," she wrote in a statement released shortly after Obama signed an executive order lifting the Bush-era restrictions. "These new rules will now make it possible for scientists to move forward. I urge researchers to make use of the opportunities that are available to them, and to do all they can to fulfill the promise that stem cell research offers."

Nancy Reagan has been an outspoken advocate of stem-cell research – and scientists hope that the research could someday lead to cure to Alzheimer’s disease, which afflicted her husband, Ronald Reagan.

Reagan continued, "Countless people, suffering from many different diseases, stand to benefit from the answers stem cell research can provide. We owe it to ourselves and to our children to do everything in our power to find cures for these diseases – and soon. As I’ve said before, time is short, and life is precious."

[Guest Conway]

It is a position that many of us on the conservative side never understood. There is so much misery in the world of which this research could cause the demise . It's about time. I salute the President for this executive order.

[BigK]

I agree that this is a very good move by President Obama. And way to go Nancy Reagan. Let's hope that this intensified research leads to many medical breakthroughs.

[Guest eastburbguy]

OTOH, there's this view from GOP Congressman Eric Cantor:

Embryonic stem cell reversal is distraction, Congressman says

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A top congressional Republican on Sunday criticized President Barack Obama's expected decision to reverse the Bush administration's limits on embryonic stem-cell research, calling it a distraction from the country's economic slump.

"Why are we going and distracting ourselves from the economy? This is job No. 1. Let's focus on what needs to be done," Rep. Eric Cantor, the Republican whip in the House of Representatives, told CNN's "State of the Union."

I was no fan of Reagan, but Nancy is right on. Good for her!!!

< "I’m very grateful that President Obama has lifted the restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research," she wrote in a statement released shortly after Obama signed an executive order lifting the Bush-era restrictions. "These new rules will now make it possible for scientists to move forward. I urge researchers to make use of the opportunities that are available to them, and to do all they can to fulfill the promise that stem cell research offers."

Nancy Reagan has been an outspoken advocate of stem-cell research – and scientists hope that the research could someday lead to cure to Alzheimer’s disease, which afflicted her husband, Ronald Reagan.

Reagan continued, "Countless people, suffering from many different diseases, stand to benefit from the answers stem cell research can provide. We owe it to ourselves and to our children to do everything in our power to find cures for these diseases – and soon. As I’ve said before, time is short, and life is precious."

[caeron]

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/03/09/po...ry4854325.shtml

I suspect Eric Cantor is taking this approach because the poll numbers in the link above show that even most republicans approve of stem cell research. Certainly most Americans do.