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BUSH SURRENDERS TO THE ENEMIES OF SCIENCE


Aug. 13, 2001

MARINA DEL REY, CA--President Bush's recent decision to limit embryonic
stem cell research is not a compromise; it is a near-total capitulation to
the enemies of biotechnology, said Robert Tracinski, a columnist for
Creators Syndicate and a senior fellow at the Ayn Rand Institute.

The Bush proposal, said Tracinski, is the equivalent of telling
astronomers that they can make calculations based on previous observations
of the stars, but that they have to dismantle their telescopes and refrain
from making new observations. Such restrictions are designed to suffocate a
whole field of knowledge by depriving it of new material for future
research.

As further evidence of Bush's capitulation, Tracinski cited Bush's
creation of a presidential council to monitor and regulate stem cell
research, with biomedical ethicist Leon Kass as chairman. Kass is openly
hostile to genetic research and has even spoken out against in-vitro
fertilization, the decades-old technology used to help infertile couples
have children. As the president's biotechnology czar, Kass will seek to
regulate stem cell research out of existence,
said Tracinski.

President Bush is right when he says that this issue is 'the leading
edge of a series of moral hazards, said Tracinski. The primary hazard,
however, is his attempt to halt the advancement of scientific knowledge that
could improve human life.

Ayn Rand Institute senior writer Robert Tracinski is available for
interviews.

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