MTP Transcript for Oct. 29

LT. GOV. STEELE: You know, you...

MR. RUSSERT: I went up on the Web site for the National Institute of Health, Mr. Steele, frequently asked questions. And let me share those with you and our viewers.

Question: “Why not use adult stem cells instead of using human embryonic stem cells in research?”

National Institute of Health: “Human embryonic stem cells are thought to have much greater developmental potential than adult stem cells.” That’s the issue. And...

LT. GOV. STEELE: That’s the, that’s the issue.

MR. RUSSERT: ...you’re opposed to using something that has more promise than adult stem cells.

LT. GOV. STEELE: Well, but, but, there’s — that’s — that’s not exactly the case here. What we’re talking about is — you’re talking about a research that is in its infancy. There’s a great — you also have people at the NIH and around the country, other scientists, that will tell you that embryonic stem cells research right now is not the most stable — it’s less stable than, than adult — because when you start to extract those cells, that, that, that, that line becomes less stable the more you extract. So there’s still — my point is this, Tim, there’s still a lot of work that we need to do. This is an emerging research, and my hope and my prayer is that we can get to the point where we can extract those lines without destroying, destroying that, that embryo.

MR. RUSSERT: Why are you opposed to using embryonic stem cells? Taking of a life?

LT. GOV. STEELE: It’s taking — yes, I see that as a life, and I, and I don’t think that we should use federal funds to do that. And that’s, and that’s the difference to me.

MR. RUSSERT: Here — here’s, here’s a question that I have to pose: There are fertility clinics all across the country, several in Maryland — Shady Grove, Baltimore...

LT. GOV. STEELE: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

MR. RUSSERT: ...where they take embryonic stem cells and discard them because they’re not used in pregnancies — embryos. What — will you close down those fertility clinics?

LT. GOV. STEELE: I won’t close down the fertility clinics. We have options there. We could, we could set up adoptions for those, for those embryos. There are so many other options that we can pursue that we don’t. And, and the key thing to keep in here — keep in mind here, and for me, and I think for —  hopefully for Ben, too, and I — because he’s a good man on this, on this subject: Science moves us in a

certain direction, and it pushes the envelope, as it should. But as a society, we also must, must consider the, the, the religious, the moral, and the ethical values of that society, and that needs to be a part of this as well. So we cannot just because it’s in a bill, we cannot just because a scientist or a group of scientists say, “Yeah, let’s do this,” that we don’t step back and, and assess for ourselves is this the moral, ethical and, and, and appropriate thing to do?

MR. RUSSERT: But I’m trying to, I’m trying to understand the logic. If, in fact, these embryos are being discarded by fertility clinics, and you think that’s the taking of a life, how can you tolerate or allow it?

LT. GOV. STEELE: But my point is that we need to look at exactly how, how we store them, we have 400,000, I think, across the country. I, I would pursue options that would allow us to look at adoption of some of those embryos and, and to the extent that they — they’re no longer viable, that they have expired or whatever, then you have to look at what you do there. My only point is, let’s step back and evaluate what our options are before we go headlong into a sear — into a science or a research that is not fully developed.

MR. RUSSERT: Would you forbid fertility clinics from destroying embryos?

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