Pennsylvania politics

Pennsylvania politics

Well, I should have blogged on this on Saturday, when the article came out, but it was a busy family day that culminated in a sick child and tired parents…24 hour bug and he is back at school today, so I’m catching up.

Anyway, the Philadelphia Inquirer had an article about the two Pennsylvania senators, Rick Santorum and Arlen Specter, joining forces in introducing a “compromise” stem cell bill. The interesting thing about this bill is that it would allow a form of embryonic stem cell research. The reason this is interesting is because Santorum is extremely conservative and on the pro-life side. (Specter, on the other hand, is a moderate Republican whose opinions I generally respect.) Santorum is now supporting the research, which includes creating a genetically engineered embryo that would not be able to implant in a uterus or to keep developing. He was quoted as saying, “There are some who believe that... there is controversy around these new entities - these collections of cells - as to whether it is an embryo or not. I feel comfortable, given all of the conversations I have had with a number of bioethicists, that these are appropriate steps to take.”

Santorum is up for re-election in what is apparently shaping up to be a tough race. Specter is supporting him; this bill would give Santorum some weight among more liberal voters.

Santorum is so conservative that I can’t see how this helps him; taking a slightly different stance on embryonic stem cell research might shift votes to him if he were liberal in other areas. But I can’t image Democrats voting for him because he supports this bill when he has a conservative agenda in many other arenas. If anything, it seems like this might alienate some of his constituency. The reader comments on the Inquirer article suggest this; there are several comparisons of him to Judas. I guess I should respect him for consulting with bioethicists and for being willing to shift his position, but unless he’s changed his understanding of what an embryo is and when human life begins, I don’t see how this is not at great odds with his pro-life stance, and it will be intriguing to see how he tries to reconcile these to voters.