Posted on 07/18/2006 12:46:23 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - Debating science, ethics, morality and humanity, the Senate prepared Tuesday to send a bill expanding federal funding of embryonic stem cell research to an unreceptive President Bush.
It wasn't a matter of simple party politics, however, as some of Bush fellow Republicans launched a last-ditch lobbying effort to save the bill from his veto.
Wrote California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger: "Mr. President, I urge you not to make the first veto of your presidency one that turns America backwards on the path of scientific progress and limits the promise of medical miracles for generations to come."
And former first lady Nancy Reagan quietly made calls to a few senators to try to build support toward a veto-proof margin. But no one was predicting the legislation would win the required 67 votes.
With the showdown vote approaching, the White House left little doubt about Bush's intentions: he will veto the bill when it reaches his desk, a statement said.
Still, supporters said the pressure of public opinion eventually will push the government toward funding the studies. They argue that research into stem cell treatments holds the promise of cures for a host of debilitating diseases afflicting millions of people.
"There has been an upsurge of demand," said Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. "It has crossed every line we could imagine, certainly partisan lines, ethnic, racial, geographic lines."
Such research should be permitted under strict ethical rules — and only on donated embryos that would otherwise be thrown away — supporters argued.
Those opposed, including Bush, have said they object to the research because the process of extracting the stem cells destroys the embryos — human life to some.
Bush's veto, which likely would come Wednesday, would be the first during his 5 1/2 years in office.
The House last year fell 50 votes short of a veto-proof margin when it passed the same bill, 238-194. Neither the Senate nor the House is expected to have the two-thirds majorities necessary to override the president's opposition.
That didn't stop scientists and celebrities from applying pressure.
Actress Mary Tyler Moore showed appeared with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., saying said she was "very disappointed" Bush's stance.
"This is an intelligent human being with a heart, and I don't see how much longer he can deny those aspects of himself," she said.
The bill would allow federal funds to be used in research on embryonic stem cell lines derived from fertility treatments that would otherwise be discarded. Though several Republican Senate leaders support the measure, many GOP lawmakers oppose it, as do conservative voters with whom Bush wants to maintain credibility.
Bush on Aug. 9, 2001, signed an executive order restricting government funding to research using only the embryonic stem cell "lines" then in existence, groups of stem cells kept alive and propagating in lab dishes.
There has been muscular opposition, though, from those with personal stories of illness and death.
Many cited former President Reagan, who died in 2004 after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease, one of several illnesses that researchers say stem cell research might someday cure.
Everybody, it seemed, had a personal story to tell on the Senate floor, where such intimacies aren't routinely shared.
"I lost a beautiful daughter some years ago to heart disease," said Sen. Byron Dorgan (news, bio, voting record), D-N.D. "I wondered then and I wonder now and, I will wonder some long while, if there's anything that we could do to unlock the mystery of that devious killer."
Opponents sought to put faces on the reasons why the five-day-old embryos destroyed during the research are worth more than the advances they might yield.
"It is immoral to destroy the youngest of human lives for research purposes," said Sen. Sam Brownback (news, bio, voting record), R-Kan. "It is an age-old human debate, whether you allow the stronger to take advantage of the weaker. We have already regretted doing it in the past; we will regret this, too."
Two related bills also were scheduled for votes Tuesday in both the House and Senate. One would encourage study on stem cells derived from sources other than embryos. The other would ban so-called fetal farming, the possibility of developing fetuses, then aborting them for scientific research.
Both have little or no opposition and Bush was expected to sign them.
___
Associated Press Writer Mary Dalrymple contributed to this report.
__
On the Net:
Information on the bill, H.R. 810, S. 3504 and S. 2754, may be found at http://thomas.loc.gov
The GOP just spends money without conscience. Of course, I doubt the Dems would cut spending.
That Dems. would never cut spending, even as they hypocritically attack Bush for conversely A) Deficits or B) Any attempt he makes to control deficits, isn't just a source for doubt. It's a metaphysical certainty they'd never cut spending.
Opponents sought to put faces on the reasons why the five-day-old embryos destroyed during the research are worth more than the advances they might yield."It is immoral to destroy the youngest of human lives for research purposes," said Sen. Sam Brownback (news, bio, voting record), R-Kan. "It is an age-old human debate, whether you allow the stronger to take advantage of the weaker. We have already regretted doing it in the past; we will regret this, too."
Today it is for research, tomorrow when the research yields results the "sub-human" children will be cannibalized to provide the necessary cells for the "more human" adults.
Agreed. Pelosi says that she's going to reduce the deficit by repealing the Bush tax cut and holding the line on spending. The problem with her logic is that if you held the line on spending, you'd soon have a very large surplus. You don't need to repeal any tax cuts, and that proves that she doesn't plan to hold the line on spending.
WASHINGTON, DC - The following is Congressman Mike Pence’s statement today made in advance of a Senate vote that would allow federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.
“We gather today in respectful opposition to the Castle-DeGette bill: A bill that authorizes the use of federal tax dollars to fund the destruction of human embryos for scientific research.
“Assuming H.R. 810 passes the Senate today, on behalf of millions of pro-life Americans, we say, Mr. President, veto this bill.
“As we begin this debate, I am confident that we will hear the supporters of this bill argue in the name of Ronald Reagan that this research is consistent with his long-held views about the sanctity of life. But it was Ronald Reagan who wrote, ‘we cannot diminish the value of one category of human life-the unborn-without diminishing the value of all human life.’
“The supporters will also argue that this is a debate between science and ideology…that destroying human embryos for research is necessary to cure a whole host of maladies from spinal cord injuries to Parkinson’s.
“But the facts suggest otherwise. To date, embryonic stem cell research has not produced a single medical treatment, where ethical, adult stem cell research has produced some 67 medical miracles. Physicians on our side will make the case for the ethical alternative of adult stem cell research and Congress today will greatly expand funding in this area.
“But the debate over the legitimacy or potential of embryonic stem cells is actually not the point of this debate.
“We are here simply to decide whether Congress should take the taxpayer dollars of millions of pro-life Americans and use them to fund the destruction of human embryos for research.
“This debate is really not about whether embryonic stem cell research should be legal. Sadly, embryonic stem cell research is completely legal in this country and has been going on at universities and research facilities for years.
“The proponents of this legislation don’t just want to be able to do embryonic research. They want me to pay for it and like 43 percent of the American people in a survey out today, I have a problem with that.
“You see, I believe that life begins at conception and that a human embryo is human life. I believe it is morally wrong to create human life to destroy it for research. And I believe it is morally wrong to take the tax dollars of millions of pro-life Americans, who believe that human life is sacred, and use it to fund the destruction of human embryos for research.
“This debate, then, is not really about what an embryo is. This debate is about who we are as a nation. Not, will we respect the sanctity of human life but will we respect the deeply held moral beliefs of nearly half of the people of this nation who find the destruction of human embryos for scientific research to be morally wrong?
“Despite what may be uttered in this debate today, I say again: This debate is not about whether we should allow research that involves the destruction of human embryos. This debate is about who pays for it.
Adult stem cell research has been far more promising, and fetal stem cell research has been far more troubling.
Besides, no one is saying that fetal stem cell research is illegal.
They're just saying that the Federal Government won't pay for it.
State governments are allowed to. Businesses are allowed to. Individuals are allowed to.
With all the breakthroughs everyone claims will result from fetal stem cell research, there must be businesses lined up around the block just aching to pay for research on this stuff.
They're lined up out here in California already, where it's on the taxpayers dime to the tune of 6 Billion.. Prop 71 made sure of that. It currently faces legal changes but that hasn't stopped the lines of "researchers" from queueing up.
Considering there is no ban on stem cell research, and considering progress commercially has been found more using cord blood or adult stem cells, the crowd pushing this can safely be said to either be a) guided by emotion and/or b) guided by business/abortion interests.
The American people are not pushing this forward no matter what "polls" say of the matter. I've seen nothing that catalogues calls to D.C. as being anything close to what occured with amnesty. Bush won re-election and his first election opposing this, didn't stop his election. How many candidates have won/lost on this issue? Whatever their "opinion", if you believe the polls, they certainly aren't impassionaed enough to raise real heat about it.
It's such a joke they choose this issue with no public ground swell for GOVERNMENT funding right now to have a vote on.
...So I want to authorize killing somebody else's kids--albeit they are in a far younger stage of development--to learn how we may have saved her. Of course the research using embryonic stem cells has only created tumors so far, may not pan out and hasn't done so yet and the biotech companies are salivating all over the carpet on this, but it is the "humane" thing to do.
Opponents sought to put faces on the reasons why the five-day-old embryos destroyed during the research are worth more than the advances they might yield.
The reason that they are human beings created by God with an immortal soul is insufficient even for the Catholic members who voted to kill the embryos anyway.
It's just corporate welfare for the biotechs.
Not only do the get the gov't to pay for the research they should be doing, they also get to get grants to get the gov't to pay them and their salaries to do the research.
It's much the same as how the gay marriage issue has been pushed down the throats of folks , and overwhelmingly rejected , but does that stop the advocates in Congress and some of the churches ?
Besides, no one is saying that fetal stem cell research is illegal.
They're just saying that the Federal Government won't pay for it.
State governments are allowed to. Businesses are allowed to. Individuals are allowed to.
With all the breakthroughs everyone claims will result from fetal stem cell research, there must be businesses lined up around the block just aching to pay for research on this stuff.
Worthy of being repeated. And I'll add, if you want funding for embryonic stem cell research, then bust open your OWN damned check book, but leave mine alone.
He said:
“The supporters will also argue that this is a debate between science and ideology…that destroying human embryos for research is necessary to cure a whole host of maladies from spinal cord injuries to Parkinson’s. “But the facts suggest otherwise. To date, embryonic stem cell research has not produced a single medical treatment, where ethical, adult stem cell research has produced some 67 medical miracles. Physicians on our side will make the case for the ethical alternative of adult stem cell research and Congress today will greatly expand funding in this area.
The significant argument, though, is that this is simply part of the slide into human farming. It will go from embryos, to fetuses, to babies, to the undesirable.
In the meantime, it will sanction murder, manipulation, and increase disregard for the sacredness of life.
Supporting fetal stem cell research is a vote for hell from hell.
Really?
Last I checked it was judges forcing gay marriage down the throats of citizens as well as the Mayor of san Fran to which the AMERICAN PEOPLE responded by passing gay marriage bans in their own states and demanding action on Capitol Hill...which, as with amnesty, the representatives of the people are reluntant to do as the people will.
The attacks on churches isn't going to wash here. The two aren't comparable. The American people and Christians didn't start that fight. Judges and Liberals did, so whining about finding ways to protect marriage and ludicrously claiming anaolgy here...LOL
With embryonic stem cells, please, tell me who instigated this? No bans were put on it, so the pro-embryonic federally funded research advocates can't claim they were provoked. THEY started this and, thus far, haven't shown ANY solid reasoning why the government needs to fund research already occuring commercially that has less then stellar success.
Horsecrackers. The revolving door between the universities and the biotechs would power a generator lighting up southern California.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.