Frist Again at the Center of Stem Cell Fight

"I thought he was for stem cell research, but ever since Bush got involved, [Frist has] gone all wishy-washy," said Shockley, a volunteer for the Tennessee Parkinson's Action Network. "It makes no sense. He's a physician; he knows what stem cell research can be. It seems to me it's become a political football, and it's frustrating."

Shockley, who described herself as a "pro-life" Republican, said she has stopped donating to Frist's campaigns, even as he considers a run for the presidency in 2008.

"He became [Senate Majority] Leader," said Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), one of the leading advocates of a broad research policy. "He has a little different responsibility now with respect to the party approach."

Over a period of three days, Frist aides did not respond to multiple interview requests. Spokesman Nick Smith left a voice message indicating only that the majority leader is trying to schedule a Senate vote this month.

Frist's 10-point stem cell proposal in the summer of 2001 was the result of extensive research, soul-searching and "20 years in the field of medicine and in science," he said. Describing himself as the "Senate's only physician and only medical researcher," he said he knew the promise and pitfalls of cutting-edge science.

His 11-page speech on the "promising and important line of inquiry" addressed in detail a host of scientific and ethical questions, displaying an impressive command of the complex science and a doctor's ease with life-and-death issues.

Drawing comparisons to his experience as a transplant surgeon, Frist stressed that the stem cells are taken only from "spare" embryos "that would otherwise be discarded."

"It is critically important that we understand, and in our moral and ethical framework ensure, that this tissue otherwise would not be used," he said. "It is similar to the fact that when I do a heart transplant, that heart otherwise would not be used for anything useful."

On the question of whether the days-old blastocyst is a life, Frist said: "There is a continuum from a sperm and an egg, to a blastocyst, to a fetus, to a child, to an adolescent, to an adult."

He acknowledged that other types of stem cells appear to offer some therapeutic benefits but said they were insufficient.

"It appears clear that research using adult stem cells does not hold the same potential for medical advances as does the use of the more versatile embryonic stem cells," he said.

Hendrix, who at the time was immediate past president of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, said she will never forget the excitement Frist's stance sparked in the research community. "The credibility he brought was something that was just profound," she said.