Disappointment
President Bush has had many opportunities to veto legislation over his two terms that deserved to be veto. From spending bills to McCain-Feingold, he has let several bills pass notwithstanding certain objections.
But I am disappointed that the President chose to veto HB810, a bill that would lift the ban on federal funding of stem cell research. It may seem counterintuitive for me to support federal medical research funding, but this is a rare case where Federal dollars can help accentuate, not hinder, progress. Federal funding is already being spent on doing meaningful medical research and, in some cases, less-meaningful research. Allowing federal funding of stem cell research would allow further research into developing cures and treatments for diabetes, Parkinson's, and other diseases much in the same way that federal funds have helped AIDS and cancer research.
I can understand where some of the people who oppose stem cell research are coming from, and I understand the moral considerations. It should be illegal to grow or implant embryos solely for the purpose of medical research, stem cell or otherwise. However, we should not artificially limit our ability as a nation to continue to do important scientific research that has the potential to save millions of lives. This is particularly true in the case of embryos that have been created as part of fertility treatments. In most cases, the embryos created for this, if they are not implanted in the mother, are either frozen forever or forcibly destroyed after a certain period of time. Couples should have the option of donating these embryos to science so that they can be put to good use, not just thrown out with the trash. It its hypocritical to allow couples to engage in fertility treatments, "playing God" to a certain extent by creating embryos outside of natural conception, and allowing for the creation of embryos everybody knows will eventually have to be destroyed, but not allow the same embryos to be used for a meaningful scientific purpose.
I am further disappointed that tonight, the House of Representatives failed to overturn the President's veto.
I understand the President's concerns. I respect his moral opposition to stem cell research that has led him to this veto, and I respect the fact that he had the courage of his conviction to do this. However, it is not the right decision in the long-term.
But I am disappointed that the President chose to veto HB810, a bill that would lift the ban on federal funding of stem cell research. It may seem counterintuitive for me to support federal medical research funding, but this is a rare case where Federal dollars can help accentuate, not hinder, progress. Federal funding is already being spent on doing meaningful medical research and, in some cases, less-meaningful research. Allowing federal funding of stem cell research would allow further research into developing cures and treatments for diabetes, Parkinson's, and other diseases much in the same way that federal funds have helped AIDS and cancer research.
I can understand where some of the people who oppose stem cell research are coming from, and I understand the moral considerations. It should be illegal to grow or implant embryos solely for the purpose of medical research, stem cell or otherwise. However, we should not artificially limit our ability as a nation to continue to do important scientific research that has the potential to save millions of lives. This is particularly true in the case of embryos that have been created as part of fertility treatments. In most cases, the embryos created for this, if they are not implanted in the mother, are either frozen forever or forcibly destroyed after a certain period of time. Couples should have the option of donating these embryos to science so that they can be put to good use, not just thrown out with the trash. It its hypocritical to allow couples to engage in fertility treatments, "playing God" to a certain extent by creating embryos outside of natural conception, and allowing for the creation of embryos everybody knows will eventually have to be destroyed, but not allow the same embryos to be used for a meaningful scientific purpose.
I am further disappointed that tonight, the House of Representatives failed to overturn the President's veto.
I understand the President's concerns. I respect his moral opposition to stem cell research that has led him to this veto, and I respect the fact that he had the courage of his conviction to do this. However, it is not the right decision in the long-term.
posted by Brian Griffiths at 10:21 PM
2 Comments:
Bush isn't against stem cell research. He's against the federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. I am aware you know this, but to refer to him as opposing stem cell research in any kind of vague terms pushes the argument into an area in which it is not entirely relevant.
In a de jure sense, yes federal funding for stem cells exists in the existing "62 lines" from the President's August 2001 address. The problem is that those lines are really only 17 viable lines, and even they are contaminated from genetic material of mice. So in a de facto sense, the President did veto a bill that would have funded to ability to do useful stem cell research.
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