President Obama’s new stem cell research policy was expected – but the way he framed it was totally unexpected to me as a pro-choice minister. Rather than elevating science above all, he spoke “as a person of faith” – those are his words. And he said: “I believe we are called to care for each other and to work to ease human suffering.” He was clear that his religious views informed his policy and that using federal funds for research using stem cells from existing embryos that are slated to be destroyed is fully consistent with respect for human life.
You would have to know a lot about religious positions on research with embryonic stem cells to know that Obama is firmly in the mainstream of religion on this issue. You wouldn’t know that from most press coverage, which routinely says that religious groups are against this research and health advocates – secular groups - are for it. In most of the American press, “religious” is a synonym for anti-choice or, in this case, anti-research with stem cells from embryos. In short, the press buys the Religious Right storyline that they have a lock on religion. In this scenario, the rest of us – we who are pro-choice, who believe it’s moral and ethical to use embryos slated for destruction to advance science and save lives – are somehow not religious, even if we worship and live according to our understanding of our faiths.
President Obama’s words reflect sentiments of his denomination, the United Church of Christ: “…by banning the research, we foreclose the possibility of doing all we can to improve the lot of the living, and in many cases giving them new life…” They also reflect the statement adopted by the RCRC Board of Directors in 2000: that “excess embryos slated for destruction must not be placed above persons whose pain and suffering might be alleviated due to the knowledge gained from studying them.” They reflect the view that being “pro-life” cannot be reduced to being pro-embryo or pro-fetus; life is much greater and life is the common good.
This new policy is a radical leap forward. As the President said, “sound science and moral values” are not inconsistent in this revised policy. It’s not only about removing the restrictions placed on federal funding of research with embryonic stem cells, the cells that potentially have the ability to cure some of our most devastating diseases. It’s about acting as healers and creators of a better life and rising above the narrow and often petty definitions that some claim to be the whole and only truth. Perhaps this will be the beginning of a new understanding that people who are religious and religious institutions themselves have many different views on bioethics. In announcing this policy as he did, President Obama also announced a fresh start for religious freedom and respect for religious diversity on controversial issues. Change has come!
