House Republicans bring 'fetus farming' to stem cell debate

RAW STORY
Published: Tuesday July 11, 2006

This Thursday, House Republicans plan to meet to discuss "fetus farming," which some claim is the termination of a pregnancy in order to utilize the fetus for medical or scientific purposes, RAW STORY has learned.

A letter targeting the alleged process, written by Rep. Dave Weldon (R-FL,) calls it a "gruesome practice".

Though early research by RAW STORY has turned up little to support that the practice exists, Weldon's letter seems to be aimed at the process known as therapeutic cloning, a process used to harvest stem cells, and comes as the Senate is set to debate a stem cell bill that Karl Rove has told reporters would earn President Bush's first ever veto.

Therapeutic cloning involves removing the DNA from an unfertilized human egg and replacing it with DNA from a patient. The egg then divides through mitosis to become a blastocyst--a clump of several dozen cells that then produces stem cells with DNA identical to the patient.

Though a fetus could not develop in the conditions, many contend that the resulting blastocyst is still a human embryo. The process does not involve a human pregnancy, which Weldon's letter implies could be ended for it. What medical applications or motivations a physician or scientist may have for doing this are also not made clear by the letter.

However, some believe that the termination of a pregnancy for stem cells could still result from laws that would allow human cloning for therapeutic reasons, but not for reproductive ones.

RAW STORY is actively seeking information to verify the process described in Weldon's letter.

The letter, as acquired by RAW STORY, follows:

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Fetus Farming: What is It? Why Must We Ban it?

Thursday, July 13, 2006 12:00 -1:00 PM 1310 Longworth Chick-Fil-A Lunch Provided

Dear Colleague,

The House and Senate will soon be considering legislation that outlaws the gruesome practice of human fetus farming (S. 3504 and H.R. 5719), a technique in which a pregnancy is initiated for the sole purpose of harvesting human fetal tissue for medical or research purposes.

In 1993 Congress passed fetal tissue regulations authored by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) that were intended to be a compromise to allow fetal tissue research, but prevent potential abuses. Among other things, the law (42 USC 289g-2) forbids the use of fetal tissue from an abortion if the researcher paid the woman to have the abortion. This bill will protect human embryos (cloned or otherwise) from being exploited for their custom-grown organs. This legislation continues in the spirit of the Waxman language, protecting women from coercion and commodification as incubators for research materials.

To learn more about what fetus farming is, I encourage you to attend an important briefing, hosted by the Family Research Council on Thursday, July 13 at Noon in 1310 Longworth (see details on reverse), to which you should have received an invitation earlier this week. To RSVP, contact Sherry Carter at @frc.org or 202--*. For questions about H.R. 5719, or to cosponsor this legislation, contact Michelle Kirtley, Ph.D., on my staff at *-*.

Sincerely,

Dave Weldon, M.D.