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Frist to back funding of stem cell research
Senate majority leader to break with Bush on issue

Friday, July 29, 2005; Posted: 3:55 a.m. EDT (07:55 GMT)

Frist plans remarks on stem cell research when the Senate resumes business Friday.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Breaking with President Bush, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has decided to support legislation to expand federal financing for embryonic stem cell research, raising the possibility Congress will enact such a bill, according to a Senate aide knowledgeable about Frist's plans.

Frist, who last month said he did not at this time support expanded federal financing of such research, was to explain his decision to now support such financing in a speech on the Senate floor Friday morning.

Frist plans to say that he will support the broader federal financing despite having reservations about disagreeing with Bush's policy that stringently limits taxpayer financing for stem cell research, said the aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of a reluctance to undercut Frist's formal announcement.

Frist, R-Tennessee, who is a cardiologist, could not be reached for comment late Thursday.

Bob Stevenson, the majority leader's spokesman, declined to comment beyond saying that Frist planned remarks on stem cell research when the Senate resumes business Friday.

Frist's decision was first reported Thursday by The New York Times on its Web site.

It quoted Frist as saying in the text of his planned speech that the limitations put in place by the Bush administration in 2001 on stem cell research "will, over time, slow our ability to bring potential new treatments for certain diseases."

"Therefore, I believe the president's policy should be modified," the newspaper quoted Frist, a surgeon, as planning to say.

Bush has threatened to veto legislation for expanded financial support for stem cell research.

A bill to finance more stem cell research has passed the House, but has been stalled in the Senate.

The shift in views could impact Frist's presidential prospects since it would put him in conflict with not only the White House but also Christian conservatives, whose support he has been courting.

The Times said that Frist, in his speech, will reaffirm his position on abortion and say he can reconcile his position on stem cell research with his anti-abortion views.

"I believe human life begins at conception," he is quoted as saying. "I also believe that embryonic stem cell research should be encouraged and supported."

In 2001, Bush announced his position on stem cell research, saying the government should pay only for research of stem cell colonies, or lines, that were created by that date where the "life or death" decision already has been made.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All