WASHINGTON (ABP) — About the only thing that hasn't been cloned in Washington's debate on embryonic stem cells is the embryos themselves.
The Senate, in a repeat performance April 11, passed the “Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007” (S. 5) by a wide — but not veto-proof — majority. It was the second time in a year the chamber had approved such a bill.
In January, the House passed its version of the same bill, just as it had a year before.
And, just as before, President Bush vowed to veto the latest bill. The only other time he has used his veto power came last year when he axed the previously passed version of the bill.
In the Senate's latest action, 19 Republicans joined 44 Democrats in voting for the proposal. The 63 votes were identical to the margin the previous bill received in the Senate.
The 34 voting against the bill included two Democrats.
The proposal would greatly expand the government's ability to fund embryonic stem-cell research. Biologists prize the cells because they can replicate themselves and have the potential to grow into almost any kind of human tissue. Therefore, they may one day be used to replace cells destroyed by diseases — such as Parkinson's — that are currently deadly.
Most conservative religious and anti-abortion groups oppose such research because embryos are destroyed in the process of extracting their stem cells. In one of his first acts after he took office in 2001, Bush issued an executive order severely limiting federal funding for such research.
The latest bill — as the previous one — would have overturned Bush's limits on embryonic stem-cell research.
“Today, as hundreds of millions of Americans wait for progress, our scientists, our innovators, are marking time waiting for President Bush to keep hope alive. The wishes of the American people and the overwhelming weight of evidence — scientific evidence — should trump the narrow ideology of President George Bush,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) as he introduced the bill on the Senate floor.
But, in a statement promising a repeat veto, Bush defended his policy as maintaining bioethical standards in a new and perilous area of scientific inquiry. “While encouraging — not banning — research, my policy also ensures that federal funds are not used to create incentives to destroy or harm or create living human embryos for purposes of research,” he said.
Congress' latest move to undo his executive order “will encourage taxpayer money to be spent on the destruction or endangerment of living human embryos — raising serious moral concerns for millions of Americans,” Bush said.
Much of the mainstream biological community has opposed Bush's policy. Last month, Bush's own director of the National Institutes of Health, Elias Zerhouni, undermined the Bush policy in testimony before a Senate committee. Zerhouni said “it is in the best interests of our scientists, our science and our country that we find ways and the nation finds a way to go full-speed across adult and embryonic stem cells equally.”
While pro-life groups claim that embryonic stem-cell research is tantamount to abortion, many senators who otherwise oppose abortion rights — such as Reid and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) voted for the bill.
Senators also passed a competing bill, sponsored by Republicans Norm Coleman (Minn.) and Johnny Isakson (Ga.), that would keep Bush's standards in place but also expand other forms of stem-cell research. The HOPE Act would open federal funding for research on what it calls “naturally dead embryos.” However, some biologists have said that is not a medical definition and that such research does not provide the same potential as other embryonic stem-cell research.
Reid, in introducing the main bill, said he would not vote for the HOPE Act because it is a “cover vote” to appease the public — the vast majority of whom favor stem-cell research — while not angering religious conservatives. “The legislation is, in my opinion, more political than substantive, more political than scientific,” Reid said.
The HOPE Act is S. 30.
The House-passed version of the main bill is H.R. 3. It now goes to a House-Senate conference committee before being forwarded to Bush.
-30-
Read more:
House passes stem-cell bill again, sets up new showdown (1/12/2007)
Bush uses first veto in office on popular stem-cell bill (7/19/2006)
House approves stem-cell bill despite Bush's veto threat (5/25/2005)