CONSERVATIVE Republicans like to think of themselves as a family-oriented bunch, frequently emphasising the importance of hearth and home 鈥� and God 鈥� to the strength of American society. Lately the Bush administration has tried to extend the definition of family to include human embryos, from the moment they are created. It doesn鈥檛 matter whether they have been implanted in a woman, and it doesn鈥檛 matter if they are frozen in liquid nitrogen, they are family.
It is not considered murder to discard surplus embryos created by couples seeking help to conceive a baby 鈥� not yet anyway. But this is one area where the Bush administration is offering a carrot rather than a stick. It is awarding grants to organisations willing to promote the adoption of surplus embryos, and also plans to offer healthcare benefits to fetuses under a programme originally targeted at children. How long before frozen embryos are eligible for federally funded check-ups?
This idea is in keeping with a kind of religious fervour that seems to accompany anything to do with human reproduction. Late last year the Bush administration named David Hager as head of a committee to advise the Food and Drug Administration on drugs that affect reproduction. Hager is an obstetrician and gynaecologist who is on record as saying that he prefers not to prescribe contraceptives to unmarried women, and believes prayer can help treat medical conditions.
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The sanctity of human life doesn鈥檛 extend to everyone, however. Officials made certain that the two men charged with the series of sniper attacks that terrorised the Washington DC area last year would be tried first in a jurisdiction that seeks the death penalty for the suspects. Meanwhile the administration declined to help cash-strapped states pay for medical benefits for senior citizens.
Two decades ago, Democratic Congressman Barney Frank quipped that the Reagan Administration鈥檚 concern for human life began at conception and ended at birth. To quote Yogi Berra, another famous American 鈥渢his looks like dd茅j脿 vu all over again鈥�.
THE Washington medical establishment found itself unusually busy in the past few months trying to keep up with 鈥渂reakthroughs鈥� from the fringe of science. While the Raelian so-called cloners were getting all the attention, the investigators at the new National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health were quietly debunking less dramatic 鈥渘on-traditional鈥� medical claims.
The centre has come in for quite a bit of ribbing and not a little scepticism from the medical establishment for spending good money studying the likes of herbal medical claims. But the sceptics are bit quieter now, since the centre supported research that found that St John鈥檚 wort does not help treat depression. With its credibility enhanced, the centre will now take on claims that ginkgo sharpens memory and echinacea helps treat the common cold.
But it鈥檚 not just fringe medicine on the chopping block. One of the medical establishment鈥檚 more cherished claims fell last year. The 鈥渇ood pyramid鈥�, a graphical representation pushed by government nutritionists as an ideal dietary balance (grains and vegetables at the broad base, sugar and fat at the relatively tiny apex), was deemed unscientific. It overlooked 鈥済ood鈥� kinds of fat, apparently. With several new 鈥渟cientific鈥� claims that fat is not to blame for a nation of fatties, the medical sleuths in Washington look to have a busy year ahead.
