It was rather disturbing but not surprising to read the recent news reports about the director of the National Institutes of Health, Elias Zerhouni. But nobody should be wallowing in pity for the president. When Bush appointed Zerhouni in 2002 he was well aware of the man's position on such matters.
What one has to wonder … really wonder about is how Bush is going to respond to the escalating pressure he is getting to cave in on human embryonic stem cell research. We cannot forget that memorable scene when the president, surrounded by children who had been adopted as frozen embryos, vetoed a Congressional bill that would have opened the floodgates to federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research.
The "Snowflakes," as these children are called, were at one time the very type of embryos Zerhouni and his cohorts would like to kill in order to get their stem cells.
Wouldn't it be amazing if Bush was steeled by all this pressure to finally come out and say that regardless of the source of funding, there should be absolutely no human embryonic stem cell research in America? Let us pray for him, hope that he does the right thing and stay tuned.