Bush Vetoes Stem Cell Research Act
Well, as expected, Bush has vetoed the recently passed measure lifting the restrictions on human embyronic stem cell research.
As the New York Times notes, this veto
puts him at odds not only with the majority of voters, according to polls, but also with many members of his own political party. Republicans sent him a similar measure last year when they controlled Congress. But even with considerable support from the Republican minority this year, Democrats concede they do not have enough votes for a veto override.
The veto also guarantees that debate about hESC research will be at the forefront of the 2008 presidential elections. Regardless of the candidates position, they're going to have to talk about the ethics and science of the research and attempt to sway the voters to their particular views - anyone know how many candidates have bioethicsts on staff this time around?
Given how many states have started to fund stem cell research on their own, it will be interesting to see if any candidate believes that advocating a Bush-like ban on hESC is a viable campaign platform, and if so, how they will justify being so out of touch with voter prferences.
-Kelly Hills
Edited at 2:35pm EST:
This segment of NPR's Morning Edition contains an interview with Alta Charo, discussing how the restrictions affect scientists, and Andrea Kalfoglou writes in with the suggestion that people interested in a comprehensive read on the stem cell measure and veto check out this link. Thanks, Andrea!
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Kelly -
You refer to the current administration's "restrictions on human embyronic stem cell research" as well as "a Bush-like ban on hESC." Of course you know very well that the restrictions and the ban in question pertain only to the _funding_ of the research. In the interest of accuracy, please consider making that qualification explicit in future commentary on the subject.
- by bob koepp on Jun 21, 2007 at 5:19 PM | link
Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, Sam Brownback, and I think Gov. Huckabee support the Bush policy.
- by wesley j. smith on Jun 23, 2007 at 5:30 AM | link