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Tommy Thompson on AbortionFormer Secretary of H.H.S.; former Republican Governor (WI) |
Mark Neumann: Yes
Tommy Thompson: Yes
THOMPSON: I think it’s a problem. I think it’s a problem not only for the Roman Catholic Church, but it’s a problem with the Constitution and the platform of the Republican Party. Every year the Republican Party, both at the state level in Iowa, and nationally, are parties that come out very avidly and passionately on being pro-life. And I think any candidate that’s pro-choice is going to have a difficulty with the party faithful and those individuals that have come to this district and the state and national meetings and have avowed time and time again that this party, the Republican Party, is a party of pro-life. So anybody that’s not pro-life is going to have difficulties. That’s the question.
A: Embryonic stem cells, as well as adult stem cells, show great promise. The president set forth a policy about 72 embryonic lines that could be federally funded and could be used for research with federal funds.
Q: Researchers say there are not that many.
A: Well, there’s not that many. There’s 22 being used. There’s at least three more that have not been used. Some of them were not able to be viable, some of them were not able to have what we call pluripotency, and so they were not able to continue. But there is some tremendous new research, going on with amniotic fluids. There’s also some new research that says adult stem cells, if you do it the right way, will have the same characteristics as embryonic stem cells. So until this research is done, we do not have to destroy any more embryos. There’s enough lines right now.
ROMNEY: Absolutely.
BROWNBACK: It would be a glorious day of human liberty and freedom.
GILMORE: Yes, it was wrongly decided.
HUCKABEE: Most certainly.
HUNTER: Yes.
THOMPSON: Yes.
McCAIN: A repeal.
GIULIANI: It would be OK to repeal.
TANCREDO: After 40 million dead because we have aborted them in this country, that would be the greatest day in this country’s history when that, in fact, is overturned.
A: I believe it should be left up to the states. That was what was originally implied, and the Constitution was changed when the Supreme Court made the decision. I have made a record of pro-life for a long time, signing the partial-birth abortion, pre-notification for parents and so on. I think it’s an important imperative that states have the responsibility for making these laws.
A: There’s so much research going on, to allow for adult stem cells to become pluripotent, which will have the same characteristics of embryonic stem cells, so you do not have to kill an embryo.
“The most pro-life position would be to help people who suffer from these maladies,” Hatch said. “That is far more ethical than just abandoning or discarding these embryonic stem cells.“ For politicians such as Hatch, a Mormon, the decision to break with many of their allies in the antiabortion community was closely tied to the enormous medical potential of embryonic stem cells to treat a wide range of debilitating conditions. Hatch is hardly alone. In recent days, the pro-stem cell contingent [has come to include HHS Secretary] Tommy Thompson, Rep. Duke Cunningham (R-CA.), and Sens. Zell Miller (D, GA), Strom Thurmond (R-SC) and Gordon Smith (R-OR).