Stardate 20010724.0601 (On Screen): With a substantial majority of Americans supporting federal funding of fetal stem cell research (as do I) and with a broad range of legislators also in favor, President Bush has still not indicated how he intends to decide the issue, if indeed he himself knows yet. While on his trip to Italy for the G8 conference in Genoa, he stopped in Rome for a visit with the Pope, who predictably came down against it.
The Pope is not a US citizen or voter, and his opinion on the subject is worth precisely nothing. The President works for US voters, but not for the Pope. The potential medical benefits of this research are too great to ignore, but the Pope doesn't care about that. It is obviously a polarizing issue and no matter what decision Bush makes he'll take flack. But it's no accident that the opponents of federal funding are restricted to one particular political point of view (hard-core religious conservatives who are worried about the abortion issue), whereas supporters cover a very broad range including some anti-abortion conservatives. President Bush says "I don't care about polls" in the face of a 60%-31% margin in favor of research by Americans, but I don't think I believe that even he can ignore such a clear majority. Make the decision, approve the funding (with an unimportant face-saving caveat banning 
deliberate creation of fetuses for research), and get on with it. (discuss)
