UPDATE: Newt Gingrich now says that human life begins at conception. Dec 4, 2011
Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich told ABC News that he believes human life begins at implantation:
TAPPER: …The big argument here is that you have supported in the past embryonic stem cell research and you made a comment about how these fertilized eggs, these embryos are not yet “pre-human” because they have not been implanted. This has upset conservatives in this state who worry you don’t see these fertilized eggs as human life. When do you think human life begins?
GINGRICH: Well, I think the question of being implanted is a very big question. My friends who have ideological positions that sound good don’t then follow through the logic of: ‘So how many additional potential lives are they talking about? What are they going to do as a practical matter to make this real?’
I think that if you take a position when a woman has fertilized egg and that’s been successfully implanted that now you’re dealing with life. because otherwise you’re going to open up an extraordinary range of very difficult questions
TAPPER: So implantation is the moment for you.
GINGRICH: Implantation and successful implantation. In addition I would say that I’ve never been for embryonic stem cell research per se. I have been for, there are a lot of different ways to get embryonic stem cells. I think if you can get embryonic stem cells for example from placental blood if you can get it in ways that do not involve the loss of a life that’s a perfectly legitimate avenue of approach.
What I reject is the idea that we’re going to take one life for the purpose of doing research for other purposes and I think that crosses a threshold of de-humanizing us that’s very very dangerous.
Since it’s hard to find one place where candidates’ positions on the important pro-life issue of stem cells and embryo research has been collected, we’ve put together a collection of candidate statements we were able to find, in one handy list.
Presidential Candidate Positions on Human Embryonic Stem Cell and Cloning Experimentation
Michelle Bachmann
“I am disappointed with [President Obama’s] decision to use taxpayer funds to promote unnecessary and unethical scientific procedures. . . Not only is it immoral to destroy human embryos, but it is even worse to place women in a position where their health is at risk to do unethical research—especially in light of the recent discoveries that iPS, or adult stem cells, can reprogram cells without the use of potentially cancer-causing viruses. This is a marvelous breakthrough.” – Rep. Bachmann Press Release, 03/09/09
Herman Cain
Also, Cain has said he opposes embryonic stem-cell research. An email to the Cain campaign to expand on this issue received no reply. NC Register 11/29/11
Another big bill pending in the Senate that you might have to vote on if you’re elected is a ban on all human cloning, which President Bush supports. Would you vote for a ban on all cloning of human beings?
CAIN: That’s not a simple yes-no answer. Because there are some medical-biological aspects of this whole cloning thing, this whole stem-cell tissue thing, that I don’t want to give a blanket yes-no to at this particular point. So I’m going to not answer that one, because, I think it’s more complicated than just banning all human cloning. I need to know more about that before I can say, and I need to know specifically what it says. Human Events interview Oct 2003
New Gingrich
“I oppose federal funding of any research that destroys a human embryo because we are also dealing here with human life.” – Gingrich Reaffirms His Belief in the Sanctity of all Human Life, Born and Unborn, 12/3/11
“I am very much for adult stem cell research, and I am very much for stem cell research that comes from, for example, any device other than killing an embryo. But I am opposed to getting involved in a process of killing children in order to have research materials.” – Speech on New 21st Century Contract With America, 09/29/11
“Gingrich and former governor Jon Huntsman Jr. of Utah are the only candidates who told the Globe they would continue NIH existing cell lines, but both said they would not expand federal dollars to include new cell lines.” – Boston Globe, 08/07/11funding for research using
He recently said that he was against “killing children” for stem-cell research and that adult stem cells were just as promising as embryonic stem cells. But that leaves several questions unanswered. Sept 2011
What’s the right approach on embryonic stem cell research?
For me it is to say unequivocally that you should not use any stem cells from abortion. On the other hand, there’s a lot of research now being done on the ability to take, I think, one out of eight cells from the very earliest stages of reproduction without harming the embryo. If that turns out to be viable, you might end up with people having their own cell line almost as a matter of course 20 years from now.
What about stem cells derived from embryos at fertility clinics?
I think the federal government needs to set an example by making sure that when it is the funding source for such research, it is subject to serious ethical guidelines. I am against human cloning research, and I am against research on aborted fetuses. Having said that, I would not seek to ban research on stem cells in fertility clinics. Discover magazine interview 2006
“My hope is that [President Bush] will draw a sharp distinction between research on fetuses, which I think would be abhorrent and anti-human, and research on cells that are in fertility clinics that have never been in anyone’s body, in terms of being — becoming a person, and which, frankly, are currently unregulated and will disappear. And I think that’s a different kind of question. These are not prehuman cells in the sense they’re going to be implanted. . . . I have a 100 percent pro-life voting record, but I’ve always drawn a distinction at implantation. And I think there’s a real difference in the two kinds of cells. I notice that former senator Connie Mack, who is himself is a Catholic, takes the same position. And I think people who’ve looked at this issue can honorably disagree. But for many of us, there’s a very, very real distinction between doing something with an unborn child, a fetus that is implanted, and doing something with cells in a fertility clinic that are otherwise going to be destroyed.” Fox News July 10, 2001
“I think that there are ways to have appreciation for life, to recognize the sanctity of life, but nonetheless to look at fertility clinics where there are cells that are sitting there that are not going to be used to create life. They literally today, they’re unregulated, they can be thrown away. And I think the president, I hope the president, will find a way to agree that there ought to be federally funded research. Every major disease group in this country is passionately hoping that the president will find a way to open the door to science. And I think when you at the potential that we’re told by scientist after scientist exists in looking at these cells, that it is absolutely worth our doing. And it enhances and enriches life, I think. It doesn’t diminish it.” Fox News July 19, 2001 Gingrich’s Stem Cell History
Jon Huntsman
While running for governor in 2004 he voiced his support for human embryonic stem cell experimentation. Ambassador Huntsman’s father is the founder and chief financial backer of the Huntsman Cancer Institute, a research organization which has consistently advocated in favor of federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. – Verum Serum
“Gingrich and former governor Jon Huntsman Jr. of Utah are the only candidates who told the Globe they would continue NIH existing cell lines, but both said they would not expand federal dollars to include new cell lines.” – Boston Globe, 08/07/11
[Huntsman] “is a passionate supporter of stem cell research,” [and that he supports federal funding] “for lines that have a demonstrated history of success—adult stem cells, non-embryonic stem-cells and certain types of embryonic stem cell research.” The Blaze July 2011
Ron Paul
Says could support human embryonic stem cell experimentation but opposes taxpayer funding – discussion with editorial board for the Nashua Telegraph 11/07/07
Rick Perry
“Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a potential presidential candidate, underwent spinal fusion surgery in early July that included an injection of his own stem cells . . .While the Texas governor supports adult stem cell research, he is an opponent of embryonic stem cell research.” – ABC News, 08/04/11
When asked about stem cell research, Perry plugged his own back surgery that used stem cells: “I am a huge adult stem cell proponent,” he said. “My recovery has been just fascinating. … I hope all of you will educate yourselves as much as possible about adult stem cells.” But he drew a sharp contrast to embryonic stem cell research: “There’s not one cure that’s ever come from them, and there’s not one fetus that needs to be destroyed for that kind of science.” Politico Sept 2011
Mitt Romney
“In his public actions, Romney has occupied a middle ground on stem cell research. He has supported research using excess embryos created at fertility clinics, but he has opposed cloning or creating new embryos solely for experimentation.” – Boston Herald, 08/15/07
“I do support stem cell research. What I don’t support is cloning. What I don’t support is embryo farming. That’s the position I’ve had from the beginning as we really delve into this issue. There are different levels of stem cell research. I support using surplus embryos from IVF. I do not support cloning. So that’s supporting stem cell research. ” — NBC interview 02/14/07 video
Romney supports experiments with surplus embryos, and a type of cloning called ANT
BLITZER: So, you oppose embryonic stem cell research?
ROMNEY: Well, I favor using existing lines, as does the president, and using surplus embryos from in vitro fertilization. Those provide plenty of lines, as well what Dr. Hurlbut of Stanford describes as altered-state nuclear transfer, which is a type of embryonic development without actually creating a human embryo.
But I do not favor, if you will, what is known as embryo farming, taking donor sperm, donor eggs, putting them together in the laboratory, and creating new embryos. CNN Oct 2006
Rick Santorum
Strongly opposes human embryonic stem cell experimentation.
“He also authored legislation to advance adult stem cell research, so that ethical research could take place to fight debilitating diseases without the moral implications associated with embryonic stem cell research that destroys human life.” – RickSantorum.com election web site.
For comparison, here are the policy positions of President Obama
Barack Obama
Supports taxpayer funding of human embryonic stem cell research.
Supports taxpayer funding of human cloning for destructive embryo research.
Family Research Council’s Position:
Family Research Council recognizes and respects the inherent dignity of every human life from conception (whether by natural or artificial means) until death. FRC desires to help build a culture of life, holding that all human life is a gift to be treasured. The life of every human being is an intrinsic good, not something whose value is conditional upon its usefulness to others or to the state. Human beings need not prove their moral worth by demonstrating sentience, or self-awareness, or a certain level of cognitive ability. Neither scientific progress nor the desire to help others can justify the sacrifice of any human being’s life or inherent dignity. Every human being, born or unborn, deserves the equal protection of the law.
Family Research Council opposes research that destroys, harms, or manipulates an embryonic human being. However, we vigorously support research and therapies using “adult” stem cells (such as from bone marrow and umbilical cord blood), which is not ethically problematic and has already resulted in useful therapies in human patients. FRC opposes all forms of human cloning, whether “reproductive” to bring an infant to term, or “therapeutic,” to destroy the cloned embryo for experiments. FRC believes that good science is also ethical science, and supports biotechnologies that advance scientific knowledge and medical treatments, while valuing all human life and maintaining human dignity.