Mitt Romney on stem cell research - March 19, 2009

In an interview that aired March 19, 2009, Larry King asked former presidential candidate Mitt Romney if he supports "the stem cell thing," noting that Romney's wife has multiple sclerosis, a disease that some scientists think will be cured through stem cell research.

KING: Your wife has multiple sclerosis, a disease some scientists think will be cured through stem cell research. How is she doing?

ROMNEY: She's doing terrifically well. She's riding horses on a regular basis. She thinks that keeps her healthy and strong. And she's one of the few that has had very little progression from the disease. So I'm pleased and hopeful.

KING: Do you support the stem cell thing?

ROMNEY: I support stem cell research. I do not support creating new embryos for the purpose of taking away the life of that embryo, and taking stem cells from those embryos. There are a lot of better ways than getting stem cells from --

KING: Even though they're probably never going to be lives?

ROMNEY: If you create them in the laboratory, you're creating new life. And I wouldn't do that for the purpose of research, but there are fortunately much better ways of doing it, which has now been proven by scientists across the country.

KING: Do you think we're going to cure MS?

ROMNEY: I sure hope so. I think eventually we'll be curing most of the major diseases we know during our lifetimes. But when these things get cured, that's going to be a long time down the road.

KING: Your wife still as outspoken as always?

ROMNEY: She's the best, I'll tell you. I'm sure she's watching tonight. So, of course, outspoken and right.

KING: She says what she thinks?

ROMNEY: That's for sure.

KING: Always good seeing you.

ROMNEY: Thanks, Larry. Good to be with you.

A transcript for the entire interview can be found here.

Romney's response resembles the same one he gave in 2005 (Video) when he said "I believe stem cell research is important for our state and for our nation, and I also believe that there should be ethical guidelines drawn around the appropriate type of research."

Stem-cell discussion begins 3 minutes, 50 seconds into the video.