On Tuesday, in a move defying parliamentary convention, Michael Howard, in his capacity as Leader of the Opposition, declared his support for embryonic stem-cell research. His comments were published on the Tory website and can be viewed here:
http://www.conservatives.com/tile.do?def=news.story.page&obj_id=117117
Not only does Howard's stance contradict a "conservative" approach to bioethics, it also falls foul of the notion that MPs vote with their conscience on these issues (why is his support listed under the official Tory Party news?). For this reason we are asking people to act now to highlight how idiotic this sell-out is (see our campaigns section:
http://www.studentlifenet.co.uk/Campaigns/howard.htm).
It is clearly an attempt by the Tories to distance themselves from President Bush, who has faced a barrage of criticism from the usual suspects in the British press for being pro-life on some issues. In fact, the Tories state as much in the second paragraph of the above article where they explicitly note Bush's alleged stance on embryo research.
However, the Tories have amusingly misunderstood Bush's policy! In a poorly constructed sentence, which appears to predict Howard will lose the next election, the Tories state:
"While George W Bush promoted his opposition to stem-cell research in his successful campaign to secure a second term as US President, Mr Howard insisted there was a powerful moral case for further scientific development..."
Whilst it is true that President Bush is cautious about embryo research, the Bush campaign did not promote their alleged opposition to stem-cell research during their election campaign. Instead, their website triumphantly states:
- President Bush delivered the first funding ever for embryonic stem cell research. Prior to the President's announcement of new funding, federal funding of embryonic stem cell research was $0.
- The President's announcement did not ban, limit or restrict stem cell research.
- It is inaccurate to say the President "limited federal funding" of stem cell research, as such funding did not exist to limit. This language misleads voters to believe that the President put restrictions on existing federal funding.
- The President did announce the first ever federal funding of stem cell research with ethical requirements on which stem cell lines are funded.
(http://www.georgewbush.com/News/Read.aspx?ID=3731)
Howard has also forgotten how his own MPs voted on embryo research. In a 2001 government bill named the 'Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Research Purposes) Regulations' (which extended the research and experimental purposes for which human embryos could be used up to 14 days after fertilisation and allowed the production of human clones for the same purpose) 70 out of 131 Tory MPs voted AGAINST the bill. 46 voted for, and 15 abstained.
Although you could laugh off this move, you should act now to ensure the Tories do not make further statements about embryo research and to ensure they remove the above news article from their website.
Visit our campaigns page:
http://www.studentlifenet.co.uk/Campaigns/howard.htm
