Taking the most narrow view hampers stem cell research, morning-after contraception

Too often, the Bush administration has allowed its policy on matters of procreation to be driven by the most conservative side of the aisle.
That side argues that life begins at the moment of conception and that the destruction of that life is immoral, regardless of the consequences. It does not matter if conception was the result of rape or incest, it does not matter if the mother's health is jeopardized, it does not even matter if their is a mother -- the protection is extended even to embryos that were created in a medical laboratory dish.
As religious philosophy, people are perfectly free to accept that inflexible standard and to live their lives by it. And millions upon millions of people do. But using that philosophy to fashion and enforce government policy in a nation as diverse as the United States is wrong.
Two recent events serve to illustrate just how wrong.
Morning-after pill
Last December, two Food and Drug Administration advisory panels issued their findings that the Plan B emergency contraception regimen was safe, reliable and should be made available as an over-the-counter medication.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Public Health Association all agreed and FDA approval seemed almost certain.
That was before 49 Republican members of Congress sent a letter to President Bush voicing concerns that over-the-counter emergency contraception might encourage adolescents to be more promiscuous.
But at the heart of the opposition is the view that the use of Plan B is equivalent to an abortion, even though to be effective the medication should be taken with 72 hours of intercourse (which is why making the drug available over the counter rather than though a doctor's prescription is valuable).
Last week the FDA overruled the recommendations of its advisory bodies, its own staff and Medical professionals and bowed to political pressure. It denied over-the-counter status to Plan B.
The irony is that the FDA's action won't stop a single abortion. Indeed, it will only assure that hundreds of thousands of women who may have been able to avoid an unwanted pregnancy by purchasing Plan B within a day or two of having unprotected sex will eventually have abortions.
About 3 million have unintended pregnancies every year in the United States. Half of those end in abortion. Those numbers could be reduced virtually overnight if the FDA approved sale of the morning-after pill.
Stem cell research
The second issue raised recently was that of human embryonic research, which got the endorsement last weekend from no less a card-carrying conservative than Nancy Reagan.
President Bush signed an executive order in 2001 limiting federally funded research to a small number of existing embryonic stem cell lines. Again, this police is based on the contention that stem cell research is wrong because it involves the destruction of days-old human embryos.
Stem cells taken from embryos could lead to cures for such illnesses as diabetes, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. The latter afflicts Reagan's husband, former President Ronald Reagan.
"Ronnie's long journey has finally taken him to a distant place where I can no longer reach him," she said at a Hollywood fund raiser for private embryonic research. "Because of this I'm determined to do whatever I can to save other families from this pain. I just don't see how we can turn our backs on this."
The former first lady is not alone in seeing the value of stem cell research. Other Republican supporters includes Sens. Arlen Specter, Orrin Hatch and Bill Frist. But the president doesn't listen to moderates on this issue.
He hears only one voice, the most conservative one.
Meanwhile, in the name of protecting embryonic life, men, women and children continue to suffer and die of diseases that could be conquered through medical research.