Local family with ties to issue expresses joy over approval

Friday, Aug. 10, 2001 | 10:08 a.m.

Las Vegan Jackie Singer, her husband Dr. Richard Singer and their twin daughters are devout Catholics.

So it is no surprise that the issue of embryo stem cell research stirs in them an emotion, as Pope John Paul II has urged President George W. Bush to ban federal funding, alleging the practice goes against the sanctity of life.

But 12-year-old Mollie Singer, who for eight years has suffered from incurable juvenile diabetes, and her fraternal twin sister Jackie also have talked to Bush and feel they too have gotten their message across to him -- and it isn't in line with the Pope's opinion.

"When we asked him (Bush) to support stem cell research, he looked down at us and gave us a look (of confidence)," said Mollie, who with her sister has corresponded numerous times with Bush both before and after his election.

"He's a real nice guy,"said Jackie, dressed like her sister in what has become familiar matching capri pants and big hair ribbons worn for numerous news media interviews and while stumping for their cause on Capitol Hill.

The sisters' fondness for the president grew by leaps and bounds Thursday night after Bush approved taxpayer financing of limited research on human embryonic cells, ending months of struggle over moral, scientific and political concerns.

"This is a vast ethical mine field," Bush told American television viewers Thursday, announcing his decision that is sure to bolster research on discarded embryonic stem cells that are left over from fertility treatments. "We have arrived at that Brave New World that once seemed so distant."

It also is a decision that is sure to draw the wrath of the religious right that helped put Bush into the White House.

The elder Jackie Singer said her family has wrestled with the moral issue of the scientific research that kills the embryos -- which if kept frozen could one day become humans -- in favor of medical research that may one day cure juvenile diabetes, Alzheimer's disease and other ailments.

"This is such a complex issue, and we respect those who disagree with us because we see their point," she said. "We are devout, practicing Catholics, and we have discussed this with our clergy and our friends.

"For us it comes down to one question -- is it any more moral to destroy the (unused) embryos when they can be used for research that would ease the suffering for millions and save lives? We believe the embryos are a gift, and you do not throw away a gift."

Richard Singer, an anesthesiologist, said Bush's approval for funding even on a limited 60 lines from existing embryos will encourage not only publicly funded research but also more privately funded studies that are far less restricted.

"With federal funds, 10 doctors can work on cures instead of one," he said. "A quantum leap was taken tonight."

Mollie Miller, the elder Jackie Singer's identical twin sister, said Bush's decision was more than she expected, noting that at one point debate centered on approval of "six or seven lines" from discarded embryos.

"We absolutely got our foot in the door tonight," she said.

The younger Mollie sat between her mother and sister and watched Bush call the stem cell research issue, "one of the most profound of our times."

"I think that with stem cell research, there will be a cure for diabetes during my childhood," insulin-dependent Mollie said. "I just want to be normal."