[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 21 (Monday, May 30, 2005)]
[Pages 875-876]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Bioethics

May 24, 2005

    Thank you all. Please be seated. Good afternoon, and welcome to the 
White House.
    I have just met with 21 remarkable families. Each of them has 
answered the call to ensure that our society's most vulnerable members 
are protected and defended at every stage of life.
    The families here today have either adopted or given up for adoption 
frozen embryos that remained after fertility treatments. Rather than 
discard these embryos created during in vitro fertilization or turn them 
over for research that destroys them, these families have chosen a life-
affirming alternative. Twenty-one children here today found a chance for 
life with loving parents.
    I believe America must pursue the tremendous possibilities of 
science, and I believe we can do so while still fostering and 
encouraging respect for human life in all its stages. In the complex 
debate over embryonic stem cell research, we must remember that real 
human lives are involved--both the lives of those with diseases that 
might find cures from this research and the lives of the embryos that 
will be destroyed in the process. The children here today are reminders 
that every human life is a precious gift of matchless value.
    I appreciate Mike Leavitt, Department of Health and Human Services, 
for being here. He's the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human 
Services. I picked a really good man to take on this assignment. He's 
doing a fine job.
    I want to thank the executive director of Nightlight Christian 
Adoptions, Ron Stoddart, for joining us today. Welcome. I want to thank 
Lori Maze, the director of

[[Page 876]]

Snowflakes Frozen Embryo Adoption Program. Welcome, Lori. Thank you for 
coming. And thank you all for being here.
    The rapid advance of science presents us with the hope of eventual 
cures for terrible diseases and with profound moral and ethical 
dilemmas. The decisions we make today will have far-reaching 
consequences, so we must aggressively move forward with medical research 
while also maintaining the highest ethical standards.
    Research on stem cells derived from human embryos may offer great 
promise, but the way those cells are derived today destroys the embryo. 
I share the hope of millions of Americans who desperately want to find 
treatments and cures for terrible diseases such as juvenile diabetes and 
Parkinson's disease. That is why my administration completing--completed 
the doubling of the NIH budget to $29 billion a year, to encourage 
research. I also made available for the first time Federal funds for 
embryonic stem cell research in order to explore the potential of these 
cells.
    But I also recognize the grave moral issues at stake. So in August 
2000-first--2001, I set forward a policy to advance stem cell research 
in a responsible way by funding research on stem cell lines derived only 
from embryos that had already been destroyed. This policy set a clear 
standard: We should not use public money to support the further 
destruction of human life.
    Under this policy, we have supported a great deal of ethical 
research. About 600 shipments of eligible stem cell lines are already 
being used by researchers across the country, and over 3,000 more 
shipments are still available. We've increased funding for all forms of 
stem cell research by more than 80 percent since I took office. A 
tremendous amount of both public and private research is underway in 
America on embryonic as well as adult stem cells and stem cells from 
umbilical cord blood.
    Today the House of Representatives is considering a bill that 
violates the clear standard I set 4 years ago. This bill would take us 
across a critical ethical line by creating new incentives for the 
ongoing destruction of emerging human life. Crossing this line would be 
a great mistake.
    Even now, researchers are exploring alternative sources of stem 
cells, such as adult bone marrow and umbilical cord blood as well as 
different ethical ways of getting the same kind of cells now taken from 
embryos, without violating human life or dignity. With the right 
policies and the right techniques, we can pursue scientific progress 
while still fulfilling our moral duties.
    I want to thank Nightlight Christian Adoptions for their good work. 
Nightlight's embryo adoption program has now matched over 200 biological 
parents with about 140 adoptive families, resulting in the birth of 81 
children so far, with more on the way.
    The children here today remind us that there is no such thing as a 
spare embryo. Every embryo is unique and genetically complete, like 
every other human being. And each of us started out our life this way. 
These lives are not raw material to be exploited, but gifts. And I 
commend each of the families here today for accepting the gift of these 
children and offering them the gift of your love.
    Thank you for coming today. By the way, we're having a little 
birthday gathering just in a second for Tanner and Noelle. You all are 
invited to partake in a little birthday cake. [Laughter] In the 
meantime, may God bless you and your families, and may God continue to 
bless our country. Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 2:07 p.m. in the East Room at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to birthday guests Tanner Brinkman 
and Noelle Faulk.