corrente

(via Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush on Tuesday defended his policy of strictly limiting stem cell research, despite pressure to reconsider after former President Ronald Reagan died of complications from Alzheimer's disease.

Reagan's death on June 5 has galvanized an effort to allow stem cells to be used to seek a cure for Alzheimer's, a brain-wasting illness. His widow, Nancy, has become a powerful spokeswoman for the push to broaden the use of stem cells in medical research.

Bush, speaking to an audience of [hard] core conservative Christian supporters,* underscored his opposition to most embryonic stem cell research.

"Life is a creation of God, not a commodity to be exploited by man," Bush told the Southern Baptist Convention via satellite. The group's convention was held in Indianapolis.

A stem cell line is a reservoir of stem cells derived from a single human embryo.

*The group in question is the annual convention of the Southern Baptists, whose meeting in Indianapolis Bush addressed by video. This is the same group which just pulled out of an international Baptist organization because they were "theologically lax" and "anti-American," and is looking into encouraging all their members to remove their children from public schools in favor of homeschooling or "Christian academies."

C'mon, Nancy, Ron Jr.--your Kerry endorsement NOW would count for a lot more on the heels of the recent Reagasm.