AP Newsbreak: Healey splits with Romney and favors stem cell research

BOSTON --Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, in an unheralded split with her more conservative boss, acknowledged Monday she favors embryonic stem cell research, the subject of a bill that Gov. Mitt Romney vetoed last year only to have the Legislature override him.

"This law puts Massachusetts at the forefront of life science research, which holds the promise of curing many of the country's most devastating diseases," said Healey spokesman Tim O'Brien. "She's confident that any ethical issues raised by current research techniques will be rendered moot by the development of more scientific procedures."

The revelation prompted sharp criticism from Attorney General Tom Reilly, a Democrat challenging Healey for governor this fall. It is the third time during the past seven months that Healey has split with the Republican administration of which she is a part.

In July, she broke with Romney to say she supported a bill expanding access to emergency contraception. In August, she said she opposes gay marriage, as does Romney, but favors civil unions, which he opposes.

"It's a matter of trust: Do we trust someone who says something when they're looking for votes, but when they had a chance to stand up and make a difference for Massachusetts residents, stood silent?" Reilly said.

The attorney general supported the stem cell bill and urged lawmakers to override Romney's veto. He said the research not only has a chance to improve the quality of life for the infirmed, but also the economy in a state heavily invested in biotechnology.

"This is part of a pattern," Reilly added. "Kerry Healey is just like Mitt Romney: They run for office as moderates but they govern from the far right. We've been fooled once, but we don't want to be fooled again."

O'Brien discounted the criticism, saying the political differences between Romney and Healey are not calculated, but inevitable despite their political alliance.

"As she emerges out of the shadow of Mitt Romney, you're going to hear more about her positions and the things she stands for," the spokesman said.

Healey's statement emerged in response to a telephone call from The Associated Press, which was seeking an explanation of her position in advance of the first debate between gubernatorial candidates on Wednesday. It is being sponsored by the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, which is focused on life sciences.

Besides Healey and Reilly, Democrat Deval Patrick and Christy Mihos, a candidate who has yet to declare a party affiliation, have been invited to participate. Patrick supports stem cell research and has urged more state funding for it.

In response to the inquiry, O'Brien said Healey supported the bill passed last year by the House and Senate but later vetoed by Romney. The bill, which subsequently became law after the Legislature overrode the veto, allowed scientists to conduct stem cell research under regulations by the state Health Department.

Previously, they had to gain the approval of the local district attorney. The new law also banned cloning that results in a baby.

Embryonic stem cells are derived from human embryos that are typically no more than a few days old. Some researchers see almost unlimited potential in those cells, which go on to develop into every kind of cell in the body, including liver cells and muscle.

Scientists hope one day to take an adult cell from someone suffering from a disease, remove the nucleus, transplant it into an egg, induce the egg to begin dividing, and use those stem cells to create a tailor-made cure and treatment for that individual.

Romney vetoed the legislation, in part, because it allowed somatic cell nuclear transfer, or "therapeutic cloning" -- using human eggs specifically for research. Critics warned that it would inevitably result in "fetal farms" where embryos are clinically and commercially developed into fetuses.

"It is wrong to allow science to take an assembly line approach to the production of human embryos, the creation of which will be rooted in experimentation and destruction," Romney said in a May 27, 2005, letter to lawmakers explaining his veto.

Romney, in fact, credited Healey with helping him formulate his position, telling the AP in an interview for an April 2005 story that the lieutenant governor had raised concerns stem cell research could exploit women.

"I have listened to her on that and have also found that compelling," the governor said at the time.

O'Brien, the Healey spokesman, said: "This was during a time when people were collecting data and learning about this issue. I think a lot of people's opinions were being formed."

He said Healey noted a newspaper opinion piece raising concerns that women could suffer physically if they repeatedly harvested their eggs for research. O'Brien said that concern, as well as Romney's concern about somatic transfer, were subsequently allayed in conversations with doctors and scientists.

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EDITOR'S NOTE -- Glen Johnson has covered local, state and national politics since 1985. She can be reached at glenjohnson(at)ap.org.