Where Do Barack Obama and Joe Biden Stand on Embryonic Stem-Cell Research?

For over 30 years, the Democratic Party, at least at the national level, has strongly supported abortion, and 2008 is no exception. In this presidential election, however, with a Catholic on the Democratic ticket, might Catholics find common ground with the Democratic Party on other life issues, such as embryonic stem-cell research (ESCR)? Where do Barack Obama and Joe Biden stand on ESCR, and how do their positions compare with the Catholic Church's teaching on stem-cell research?

While Joe Biden describes himself as a "faithful Catholic," he dissents from the Catholic Church's teaching on ESCR. Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin, whose family left the Catholic Church for the Pentecostalist Assemblies of God, holds views that are in line with Church teaching.

Biden was one of 58 senators who signed a letter to President Bush in 2004, asking him to expand ESCR to new lines. When the President did not act, he joined 62 other senators in voting on April 11, 2007, to support funding for additional lines, which would have meant the destruction of more embryos. President Bush vetoed the bill.

Barack Obama was not yet in the U.S. Senate when President Bush introduced his "compromise" (opposed by the U.S. Catholic bishops) on ESCR, which allowed federal funding for preexisting stem-cell lines.

In 2004, however, as an Illinois state senator, he backed a state bill to allow ESCR on new lines (which would require the destruction of more embryos) in Illinois. And on April 11, 2007, he joined John McCain and Joe Biden in voting to expand federal funding for ESCR to new lines. As noted above, President Bush vetoed the bill.

As of September 7, 2008, the Obama-Biden campaign website features a statement supporting stem-cell research on its "Women's Issues" page. It highlights Senator Obama's support for the 2007 bill:

Obama is a co-sponsor of the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007, which would allow research of human embryonic stem cells derived from embryos donated (with consent) from in vitro fertilization clinics. These embryos must be deemed in excess and created based solely for the purpose of fertility treatment.

Unlike the Republican platform, the platform adopted at the 2008 Democratic Convention does not mention adult stem-cell research or other forms of morally acceptable research. It does, however, promise further funding for ESCR using new lines, which, like the 2007 bill, would require the destruction of more embryos:

We will lift the current Administration's ban on using federal funding for embryonic stem cells–cells that would have otherwise have been discarded and lost forever–for research that could save lives.

Presidential candidates are not bound to follow the platforms of their party, but on the question of ESCR, Barack Obama and the Democratic platform do not disagree. Both strongly support further funding for ESCR, including the destruction of more embryos for the creation of new lines, and Barack Obama's and Joe Biden's legislative records show that they have put their words into action.

As on the issue of abortion, Catholics cannot vote for any candidate who approves of ESCR on the basis of his support for ESCR. Under certain circumstance, they can vote for such a candidate if they themselves are opposed to ESCR, but only if there are sufficient reasons that outweigh the candidate's support for measures that are destructive of the Culture of Life—for instance, if all candidates for the same office support ESCR, or an opposing candidate is, on balance, more opposed to Church teaching on life issues.