07.19.06
First veto from Bush
And, as ThinkProgress points out:
67 percent of Americans support embryonic stem cell research. The same percentage believes “It would be terrible if cures were delayed because of policies that make embryonic stem cell research difficult.”
As ThinkProgress also notes:
Bush made a statement at the White House discussing why he vetoed a bill expanding funding for embryonic stem cell research. (The media was barred from covering the veto itself.) Bush explained, “these boys and girls are not spare parts.” Watch it:
An embryo is not a boy or a girl. It’s a cluster of about 150 cells smaller than the period at the end of this sentence. The embryos funded by the bill Bush vetoed were “created for the purposes of in vitro fertilization…which are spare or in excess of clinical need and in every single case are slated for medical waste.”
Only about 10 percent of embryos are adopted — the rest are disposed of. Had Bush signed the bill into law, they could instead be used to develop potentially live-saving cures for millions of people.
This veto makes no sense to me at all: embryos are now going to be destroyed that instead could have been used for research that would save lives. Bush’s reasoning, if any, totally escapes me.
UPDATE: It’s not true that 10% are adopted. The actual number is three-hundredths of one percent.
Marilyn said,
19 July 2006 at 9:20 pm
You say, “Bush’s reasoning…” Wouldn’t you say that is a conundrum? It seems to me those two words “Bush” and “reasoning” have no relation at all.