Bush Vetoes Stem Cell Bill

For the third time in his presidency, George “LBJ” Bush has vetoed legislation passed by Congress. On a previous occasion, he vetoed a bill to fund the war in Iraq-Nam because it carried a withdrawal timetable. The other two, including a veto yesterday, had to do with stem cell research. The president, no doubt earnest in his belief that the legislation would allow for the destruction of human life, is appealing to the base he is alienating with his immigration policy. It is a mixed result at best.

In 2001, after he was appointed president by the Supreme Court, Mr. Bush allowed stem cell research on 78 stem cell lines then in existence. Morally, this was a suspect move; either stem-cell research is morally tainted or it is not. His suggestion that it would be OK to work on them since they were already here and available would never make it through the first lecture of Ethics 101. It’s not all that far removed from saying, “having robbed the bank already, it’s OK to spend the money.”

Logic, however, rarely enters into debates on science with this administration. The religious right, which has very little to show for voting Republican the last 25 years, can point to the 2001 limitation as a half loaf, which is better than none. In playing to them, Mr. Bush said, “If this legislation became law, it would compel American taxpayers for the first time in our history to support the deliberate destruction of human embryos. I will not allow our nation to cross this moral line.” Apparently, dropping bombs on post-natal human beings in Iraq-Nam is less of a problem for Mr. Bush than destroying embryos.

Most of the country disagrees with him and the religious right on this issue. Stem cell research offers hope for cures of such debilitating diseases as Parkinson’s and diabetes (the latter alone eats up $1 in every $8 of US health care spending according to a study out this week by National Changing Diabetes Program). Under the current rule, embryos created to help infertile couples avoid adopting are simply tossed out if they are unused. That is hardly a morally sound situation if one is concerned about the sanctity of human life, and most Americans want “some good” to come from their creation.

According to the Democrats in Congress, they are currently one vote shy of over-riding the president’s veto in the Senate, and dozens short in the House. In all likelihood, the House will sustain the veto. Mr. Bush will tell the religious right that he won one for them, and the Democrats will add another arrow to their quiver for the 2008 elections. Pyrrhus would understand.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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