Bush Vetoes Measure on Stem Cell Research - New York Times

Bush Vetoes Measure on Stem Cell Research - New York Times

"President Bush on Wednesday issued his second veto of a measure lifting his restrictions on human embryonic stem cell experiments. The move effectively pushed the contentious scientific and ethical debate surrounding the research into the 2008 presidential campaign.

"'Destroying human life in the hopes of saving human life is not ethical,” Mr. Bush said in a brief ceremony in the East Room of the White House. He called the United States “a nation founded on the principle that all human life is sacred.'"

Comment: Unfortunately, President Bush's decision will surely lead to loss of human lives in the future -- the lives of those who would have been saved had he allowed stem cell research to continue with full federal government support. He is surely sacrificing those lives in a hope that some of the embryos that would be used to produce stem cells are indeed human life, and the forlorn hope that his foolish action will keep them from being destroyed but will lead someone to implant them in a woman who will successful bring the child to term and deliver a baby. Of course those embryos will be destroyed along with thousand of others every year.

But I suspect this is not the President's true purpose, and that he is not ignoring all scientific advice and that of all the activists outraged by his decision on moral grounds. Rather, I suspect this is a political ploy to keep some of his decreasing number of supporters on his side a little longer. JAD