Baltimore, USA - Despite the pleas of many doctors and researchers to keep arguments rooted in science, the debate over embryonic stem cell research won't be confined to laboratories.
When three legislative committees convene today to hear testimony about bills that would commit $125 million over five years for embryonic stem cell research, members of various religious communities will weigh in. And while the official position of the Roman Catholic Church against embryonic stem cell research might be widely known, there are members of other denominations who stand firmly in favor of the bills.
"What troubles me is that the current Catholic understanding regarding the beginning of life seems to somehow have become the gold standard by which everything is judged," said the Rev. Peter K. Nord, executive presbyter of the Presbytery of Baltimore, who plans to testify in Annapolis today. "That is one perspective, but there are others. Most of us support the use of embryos that would otherwise be discarded."
The Episcopal Diocese of Maryland also will submit written testimony in support of the legislation, as will Bishop John R. Schol of the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church.
"The United Methodist Church is supportive of stem cell research because of the healing opportunities that it potentially gives us, and we as a denomination are very much interested in health in life," Schol said.
Public discourse over when life begins has dominated conservative arguments against federal and state funding for embryonic stem cell research, a science that experts believe could help develop treatments for debilitating illnesses such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. Catholic leaders have argued that an embryo is a living being entitled to protection.
"There's a real misunderstanding of the value of the human person and human dignity and how every person is created in God's eyes," said Nancy Fortier, associate director for the Respect for Life Department of the Maryland Catholic Conference. Fortier plans to speak against the bills but acknowledged that she could not name another religious group that shares her opposition to embryonic research.
With an election looming in November, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has entered the debate, proposing $13.5 million for a new research center in Baltimore and $20 million in state funding for stem cell research. He has proposed that the Maryland Technology Development Corp. decide what kinds of projects to fund.
That opening has given hope to people like Fortier, who said she could support research using adult stem cells. But it concerns others, including the sponsors of the House and Senate funding bills, who, like many scientists, believe embryonic research holds the greatest promise.
"There's tenfold the amount of evidence that embryonic stem cells hold special things that adult-derived stem cells don't," said John McDonald, director of the International Center for Spinal Cord Injury at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore.
Lawmakers sponsoring the legislation say the measures the bills contain for making sure money goes to the most potentially fruitful projects are essential. And they don't stand alone in their view.
Don Schroeder, bishop's deputy for public policy for the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, said the diocese's support for the bills, which comes with a caveat against human cloning, is unwavering.
"It's a shame that a year was wasted," Schroeder said, noting that the diocese supported similar bills last year that stalled in the Senate.
Schol said the United Methodist Church is supportive as well, with a few qualifiers, notably that embryos created for fertility treatments have been donated with prior informed consent and that they were not deliberately created for research purposes or obtained by sale or purchase.
John Deckenback, conference minister for the Central Atlantic Conference of the United Church of Christ, said his national church adopted a statement in 2001 in support of embryonic stem cell research.
"Clearly we have theological differences with our Roman Catholic friends and colleagues," Deckenback said. "We have to agree to disagree on this one."