The head of the U.S. bishops' pro-life committee has encouraged President George W. Bush to veto any legislation that would loosen restrictions on federally funded human embryonic stem-cell research.

The statement was issued by Baltimore Cardinal William H. Keeler, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee for Pro-Life Activities, after Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., modified his stand to back legislation that would relax restrictions.

Frist's support improves chances that the Senate will pass a bill easing restrictions when it returns in September from its summer recess. The House already passed such a bill.

"I commend President Bush for his laudable pledge to veto such legislation," said Cardinal Keeler in a July 29 statement.

The cardinal's statement was issued in Washington by the U.S. bishops' Department of Communications hours after Frist, who previously agreed with Bush's restrictions, said in a Senate speech that the Bush policy was hindering research that could lead to cures for a number of diseases.

Cardinal Keeler also strongly criticized Frist, an opponent of legalized abortion, saying the senator's stem-cell position "is not 'pro-life.'"

The cardinal reiterated the Catholic stand that current human embryonic stem-cell research is immoral because the embryos must be destroyed to extract the cells.

"Especially disturbing is the senator's insistence that human embryos unwanted by their own parents are owed 'the same dignity and respect' as children and adults, but may nevertheless be killed for research material," said Cardinal Keeler. "Such destruction of human life, even out of a desire to help others, rests on a utilitarian view that undermines human dignity and human respect.

"Sen. Frist also repeated claims that are untrue or misleading about the unique 'promise' of embryonic stem cells; no one even knows whether they will ever provide a safe and reliable treatment for the conditions already being treated using adult stem cells."

Frist, a doctor whose private practice involved heart transplants, said in his Senate speech that he considers an embryo "nascent human life" and is ethically troubled that an embryo has to be destroyed to extract cells.

"I am pro-life," he said.

"But I also strongly believe --- as do countless other scientists, clinicians and doctors --- that embryonic stem cells uniquely hold specific promise for some therapies and potential cures that adult stem cells cannot provide," said Frist.

Unlike adult stem cells, "embryonic stem cells are 'pluripotent.' That means they have the capacity to become any type of tissue in the human body," he said.

Frist said the legislation he supports would use only human embryos created as part of fertility treatments that are no longer needed and earmarked for destruction. He said the legislation would require approval of the parents and that the parents would not receive money for donating the embryos.

He also encouraged research with adult stem cells, stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood and experimental laboratory techniques that hold promise for producing embryolike stem cells without destroying human embryos. Such research is less controversial morally and ethically, he added.

Under current Bush administration restrictions, federally funded research is permitted only on human stem-cell lines in existence on Aug. 9, 2001, when Bush announced the policy.

Frist said that there are not enough qualifying lines in existence now for the research needed to develop possible therapies.

---CNS