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Hillary Clinton’s Official Website (www.hillaryclinton.com)
STEM CELL RESEARCH:
What form of stem cell research would you permit access to federal funds?
- Therapeutic cloning (SCNT)1
- Leftover embryos derived from in vitro fertilization
- Embryo destructive research
- Umbilical cord blood banks
Would you support, and continue, President Bush’s ban on the use of federal funds for research on human embryonic stem cell lines created after August 2001? No
In light of the recent scientific discoveries regarding skin cells would you support/oppose continuing federal funding of destructive embryonic stem cell research? Supports
CLONING & HUMAN EMBRYO RESEARCH:
Would you support a federal law prohibiting human cloning? Yes
ABORTION:
Do you support Medicaid-funded abortions? Yes
Clinton is pro-choice. She spoke out against the Supreme Court decision to uphold a ban on partial-birth abortions. Clinton also voted in 2005 to give $100 million toward teen pregnancy prevention and emergency contraception education programs.2
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH:
She would bar political appointees from altering or removing scientific conclusions from government research without a legitimate reason for doing so.3
“When I am president, scientific integrity will not be the exception it will be the rule.”4
In particular, Ms. Clinton . . . proposed a spending increase of 50 percent over 10 years for basic research at the National Science Foundation and at the Departments of Defense and Energy.”5
Ms. Clinton would increase the budget of the National Institutes of Health by 50 percent over five years, while the bills in Congress are mum about the NIH.6
She also suggested tripling the number of graduate fellowships offered by the NSF, to about 3,000 annually, and increasing the student stipend by one-third, to $40,000.7
Eli Kintisch said she has proposed a “$50 billion research and deployment fund for green energy that she’d pay for by increasing federal taxes and royalties on oil companies. She would also establish a national energy council to oversee federal climate and greentech research and deployment programs.”8
HEALTH CARE:
Proposes universal coverage through both public and private insurance; individuals would be required to have health insurance coverage; income-related tax subsidies would make coverage more affordable; large employers would be required to provide or contribute to coverage, while lower-income small businesses would be given tax credits to encourage them to offer insurance to employees; would create a Health Choices Menu operated in conjunction with the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program - it would be offered to all Americans.9*
My plan is based on the principles of shared responsibility and choice. Those who are already enrolled in a health care plan can keep their plans if they want to. But, people who want to change plans or don’t have any coverage can choose from dozens of the same plans available to Members of Congress or opt into a public plan option like Medicare. And my plan will create a premium affordability tax credit so that people will not have to pay an unreasonable proportion of their income on premiums. No American family should have to choose between sending their children to college and paying for health care.
My plan will ensure that insurance companies cannot discriminate against people on the basis of age, race, gender, or other risk factors, like pre-existing conditions. Health insurance companies will be required to continue to provide insurance to people who have paid their premiums and want coverage. Under my plan, the days of insurance companies competing over how to exclude people from receiving the care they need will come to an end.
My American Health Choices Plan will need an up-front federal investment of about $110 billion. This investment will yield more affordable health care for American families, workers, and businesses, and make us more competitive in the process. However, this amount will be fully paid for, will not increase the deficit, and will not increase net taxes. Just over half the cost of my plan will be financed with savings from reducing Medicare overpayments to HMOs and other unnecessary federal spending, lowering the cost of prescription drugs, and modernizing the healthcare system. Just under half would be financed by letting the Bush income tax cuts for the wealthy expire.10
REFERENCES
1http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/10/senator-clinton.html
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:S.1520: See also http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:SN01520:@@@P
Opposes Adult stem cell research. http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00128
2http://youdecide08.foxnews.com/hillary-clinton
3Hilary Clinton Would Overturn Bush’s Executive Order on Stem Cell Research if Elected President. October 4, 2007. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,299358,00.html
4Hilary Clinton Would Overturn Bush’s Executive Order on Stem Cell Research if Elected President. October 4, 2007. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,299358,00.html
5Brainard, Jeffrey. Hilary Clinton, as President, Would Shift Budget Priorities for Scientific Research. June 1, 2007. http://chronicle.com/news/article/?id=2415
6Brainard, Jeffrey. Hilary Clinton, as President, Would Shift Budget Priorities for Scientific Research. June 1, 2007. http://chronicle.com/news/article/?id=2415a
7Brainard, Jeffrey. Hilary Clinton, as President, Would Shift Budget Priorities for Scientific Research. June 1, 2007. http://chronicle.com/news/article/?id=2415
8American Association for the Advancement of Science (2008, January 7). US Presidential Candidates And Their Views On Scientific Issues. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080103144445.htm
9Fernandez, Elizabeth. 2008 Voters Guide, The Road to the Presidency. Health Care: Insurance funding. San Francisco Chronicle. Jan 27, 2008. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/27/IN3VUL8F3.DTL
10Chronicle Readers Question the Candidates: Sen. Hillary Clinton. Feb 4, 2008. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/04/MN6KUR81L.DTL
Please feel free to add additional comments and information/links to this candidate’s positions on bioethics issues in the comment area below.
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