US senators battled this week over a proposal that, if accepted, would affect President Bush's policy on human stem cell research. Republican senator Arlen Specter inserted a clause into a finance bill of the Health and Human Services Department (HHS) which would allow stem cell research to take place on embryos donated by couples undergoing fertility treatments if the necessary consent was provided.
The White House issued a statement saying that it would veto the proposal if it were accepted, saying that it would 'signal a weakening of the Federal Government's commitment to protecting human embryos'. Another senator, Sam Brownback, offered three amendments to the finance bill. These would, if passed, ban the creation of embryos for research, prohibit human cloning, and ban the creation of animal-human hybrid embryos. Such proposals have already been passed through the US House of Representatives. Opponents say that cloning of embryos should at least be available for research purposes.
The senate failed to finish work on the finance bill on Thursday, but the two issues were at least temporarily settled by a compromise. Senator Brownback agreed not to offer his amendments if the stem cell proposal were also abandoned. The Senate's majority leader, Tom Daschle, promised that both senators would have a chance to argue their position after Congress returns from its winter break.
Sources and References
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Legislate in haste, repent at leisure
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Stem cell, cloning bills dropped
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Senate sidesteps cloning, stem cell debates
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