Our View: Bush has discarded the prospect of saving lives
As promised, President Bush ended his veto abstinence Wednesday, using the power for the first time in his five and a half years in office. What a shame that he used it to undo an important stem cell research measure that had the backing of bipartisan majorities in both House and Senate, plus a majority of Americans.
Although the president claims his decision kept the country from crossing a “moral boundary” that it needs to respect, it was, in fact, a victory for doctrine over science, hope and common sense.
At a White House ceremony where he was surrounded by families of “snowflakes” – babies developed from donated embryos – Bush took justifiable credit for being the first president to allow federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. Indeed, his decision in August 2001 to let such research be conducted on embryonic stem cell lines that already existed was a bit of a stretch for him. But it was a compromise position, and those lines, once thought to number about 80, have dwindled to one-fourth of that. Moreover, even those are thought to be losing their research value because of contamination by other kinds of cells.
Because embryonic stem cells can develop into cells for any organ in the human body, they are of far greater research promise than adult stem cells. Therefore, they offer considerable hope in developing cures for many afflictions, including Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, spinal cord injuries, cancer, juvenile diabetes, Lou Gehrig’s disease, multiple sclerosis and others. People who have those conditions, or have loved ones who do, are disserved by Wednesday’s veto.
The House, which approved the measure 238-194 more than a year ago, upheld Bush’s veto hours after he issued it. The Senate vote – 63-37 – is not wide enough to overturn a veto either.
The veto will not prevent privately funded research from continuing in labs around the country, but for now it leaves the United States, as a government, on the sidelines of biotechnological advancement.
Several of Bush’s prominent political allies have recognized what is at stake. Pro-life Republicans such as Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee have pointed out the glaring unreasonableness of Bush’s position, namely this:
The stem cells that would be available to scientific researchers would come from surplus embryos harvested by fertility clinics that are no longer needed. Those embryos are going to be discarded, and no veto will change that. Cells that are thrown away won’t grow into newborn life, but they could be used to save and extend countless other lives of people suffering from any of the conditions listed above. But not with federally funded research, they won’t. Not for now.
As an unfortunate example of how politics can contaminate higher public purpose, there was talk on Wednesday of reintroducing similar legislation and exploiting it for political advantage in this year’s congressional elections. Such a strategy is as misguided as Bush’s.
The prospect of saving lives and restoring the quality of living may not have made an impression on the president. But, as demonstrated by Majority Leader Frist when he broke ranks with the president a year ago, reason will prevail in time. That, not partisan game-playing, is the route to follow.