As predicted, the US House of Representatives has approved - with a 247-176 majority - the version of the Stem Cell Enhancement Act 2007 that the Senate passed earlier this month. The bill, which would relax federal funding restrictions on human embryonic stem cell (ES) research, now awaits Bush's imminent veto, the third of his presidency.
Bush exercised his first presidential veto against an almost identical bill passed last year when Republicans controlled Congress. Now the Democrat-led Congress knowingly lacks 35 votes in the House and one vote in the Senate to attain the required two-thirds majority to override the President's objections. Yet, it deliberately persisted in order to send a strong message from the Floor of the House to the President. Bush responded swiftly, issuing an equally adamant written statement the next day from Germany where he is attending the G-8 Summit.
Given widespread popular support of the bill according to polls and bipartisan support - 37 Republicans voted for it - Representative Diana DeGette, lead sponsor of the bill, publicly blamed Bush for stagnating therapeutic science, saying 'because of the stubbornness of one man - President Bush - these people continue to suffer as they wait [for therapeutic advances]'. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi beseeched Bush to reconsider using his 'cruel veto pen' and endorse legislation that could 'save lives, find cures and give hope to those suffering.'
Bush concluded with the exact same statement from his veto message last year, asserting that American taxpayers would be 'compelled to support' embryo destruction if this law passed and 'crossing that line would be a grave mistake'. However, this time he went further, to argue that he has morality and science on his side. Unlike before when he discussed anticipated theoretical discoveries that would make embryo destruction obsolete, Bush now was able to reference recent scientific advances which 'reinforced' his conviction that there are 'more ethical' methods to obtain ES cells.
Bush criticised the House for overlooking these ethical alternatives and referenced the latest significant scientific breakthrough as evidence. The day before the vote, Japanese and American researchers published in the journal Nature their success in genetically reprogramming mouse skin cells to mimic embryonic cells. If researchers can duplicate results in humans then the need for embryos might be omitted by substituting reprogrammed cells, sidestepping thorny ethical objections. Bush said that 'the House vote on this bill took place just after significant advances in stem cell research were reported in leading scientific journals. These reports give us added hope that we may one day enjoy the potential benefits of embryonic stem cells without destroying human life'. The president's veto may well have quelled the bill but the stem cell debate will likely resurface in the 2008 presidential elections.
Sources and References
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House Votes to Ease Limits on Stem Cell Research
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House defies Bush over stem cells
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House OKs bill loosening stem cell rules
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