By William Clark, in today’s NYTimes

He consistently opposed federal support for the destruction of innocent human life. After the charter expired for the Department of Health, Education and Welfare’s ethical advisory board — which in the 1970’s supported destructive research on human embryos — he began a de facto ban on federal financing of embryo research that he held to throughout his presidency.

As for today’s debate, as a defender of free people and free markets, he would have asked the marketplace question: if human embryonic research is so clearly promising as the researchers assert, why aren’t private investors putting money into it, as they are in adult stem cell research?

Mr. Reagan’s suffering under Alzheimer’s disease was tragic, and we should do everything we can that is ethically proper to help others afflicted with it. But I have no doubt that he would have urged our nation to look to adult stem cell research — which has yielded many clinical successes — and away from the destruction of developing human lives, which has yielded none. Those who would trade on Ronald Reagan’s legacy should first consider his own words.