On the night of May 8, my mother, Nancy Reagan, was given an award for caregiving at a Beverly Hills fund-raiser for stem-cell research. “We have lost so much time,” she said when accepting her award. “I just can’t bear to lose any more.” It was a star-studded event, but everyone there was clear about one thing: Disease doesn’t care about fame, or wealth or even youth. It just is. Michael J. Fox presented the award to my mother. He has worked tirelessly for stem-cell research after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s at a young age–too young for such a disease–but then Parkinson’s doesn’t have a very strict age limit.
Approximately 128 million individuals could benefit from stem-cell applications, according to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. The number is probably higher, and as time goes by, it will grow higher still. Imagine the fear that would strike you if you were given a diagnosis that was, basically, a life sentence. Imagine being a child and having to learn that the difference between life and death can be measured by the glucose levels in your blood. Imagine learning that you have Parkinson’s, or Alzheimer’s; you now know how you will die, but not when–it could be a long, diminishing journey. Imagine being suddenly confined to a wheelchair after a freak accident.
Now imagine, if you can, learning that a miraculous cure is possible, knowing that your life could change forever, you could be cured, except that the president of the United States refuses to allow federal funds to further the research. The reason embryonic stem cells are the best hope is two-fold: the cells are limitless in their capacity to generate healthy new cells and tissues, and they are adaptable to any organ or area of the body, such as the spine (which is why people confined to wheelchairs could literally walk again.) The Bush White House has said it would be immoral to destroy human embryos to harvest stem cells. Yet there are roughly 400,000 frozen embryos, the result of in vitro fertilization procedures, which will probably end up being discarded.
There is something this administration might not have counted on: the determination of the human spirit. When it comes to life and health, and freedom from disease, people will not be deterred. If there is no federal funding, the money will come from other places. Memo to the White House: people will not allow their children to live with juvenile diabetes when there is a potential cure that could free them and restore their bodies to health. My family has watched my father, once called “The Great Communicator,” vanish into the shadows of Alzheimer’s; we are only one of many families who know the cruelty of this disease. My mother has taken her sorrow, her loss, and stood up for the one cure that can prevent people in the future from knowing this agony. George W. Bush, though he may want to try, can never stand in the way of people who want to banish the diseases that are stealing so much.
People’s desire to live healthy, whole lives will prevail in the end. There is a cure out there. We all know it. We will reach past any mere political obstacles to grab onto it and make it a reality. A messy, horrible war that has spun out of control could very well determine the next election. So should the miracle of stem-cell research–a miracle the Bush White House thinks it can block. It’s too late for my father. At the fund-raiser last week, my mother told the audience that “Ronnie’s long journey has finally taken him to a distant place where I can no longer reach him.” But those of us who have stood helplessly at bedsides or shuddered at our own diagnosis–those who have woken up to learn they would never walk again–have something to say about the very real promise of a miraculous cure: nothing can stop us from reaching for it.
