The politicization of stem cells was completed with the summer resurrection of Ron Reagan Jr.'s flagging celebrity career when he spoke at the Democratic convention in remembrance of his father, former President Ronald Reagan, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, potentially curable with stem cells.
Reagan, who without irony has scolded Republicans for hijacking his father's good name for political gain, urged a vote for stem-cell research in November. Which would be a vote not only for Kerry, but for hope, life and an end to suffering. A vote for Bush, one easily infers, would condemn the sick to greater tortures and humankind to a dark age of flat-Earth superstition.
One can find lots of reasons to vote for Kerry over Bush, but the latter's stance on stem-cell research is something far short of religious extremism. In fact, one could argue the reverse - that Bush is seeking high middle ground in a charged ethical debate, while Kerry is becoming a borderline zealot.
Bush has not banned stem-cell research, as the political story has been widely misunderstood. To the dismay of some, he has continued funding research on 60 existing stem cell lines from previously destroyed embryos that were created by private research. Because these cell lines can replicate themselves indefinitely, they permit extensive research without crossing the moral line of destroying potential human life.
Bush's 2005 budget, meanwhile, calls for $132 billion in research and development, including research on other sources of stem cells (umbilical cord, placenta, adult and animal stem cells) that also can be used - and are being used successfully - to treat a variety of ailments. Hardly pocket change for someone allegedly anti-science.
While reasonable people can disagree about the ethics and future directions of stem-cell research, Bush essentially has taken a market approach to the research while respecting the convictions of millions - not just the theological few - for whom the destruction of human embryos is problematic if not unconscionable.
Politically, that seems a reasonable compromise. As for religious zealots, there are worse than those who obsess about the value of human life.