Senate to Pass Embryonic Stem Cell Bill, But 1st Bush Veto Looms

When the Senate reconvenes in September, a first order of business will be debate and roll call vote on a bill to provide federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research. The bill, HR 810, was already passed by the Republican-led House in May 2005 by a vote of 238 to 194, including 50 votes from Republicans.

The Senate bill was introduced by Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) and is co-sponsored by 39 other senators from both sides of the political aisle, including Senators Barack Obama (D-IL), Joe Lieberman (D-CT), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), as well as Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Tom Harkin (R-IA) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME).

In late July 2005, Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist, a conservative Christian and a physician, surprised all by announcing his support of this bill to expand federal financing for embryonic stem cell research.

AP reports that supporters of the bill claim to have at least 60 of 100 Senate votes for passage. If this Senate bill passes, it will be sent to President Bush for his approval. President Bush, of course, has long blocked federal funding of embryonic stem cell research on ideological grounds, and has announced plans to veto this bill if sent to him by Congress.

To then enact this bill, two-thirds of both the House and Senate would need to vote to override the President's veto. It's unknown if two-thirds of Congress would vote to do so. President Bush has never before vetoed legislation. All polls report that the American public overwhelmingly supports federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.

Embryonic stem cells are thought by most scientists and researchers to hold potential cures for spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, Parkinson's disease, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, heart disease, hundreds of rare immune system and genetic disorders and much more. Over 100 million Americans suffer from diseases that eventually may be treated more effectively or even cured with embryonic stem cell therapy.

However, some staunch pro-lifers and most pro-life organizations regard the destruction of the blastocyst, which is a laboratory-fertilized human egg, to be the murder of human life. They believe that life begins at conception, and that it is immoral to destroy a few-days-old human embryo, even to save or reduce suffering in existing human life. President Bush shares this viewpoint.
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Yesterday, Harvard University scientists announced a break-through discovery that would fuse "blank" embryonic stem cells with adult skin cells, rather than with fertilized embryos, to create all-purpose stem cells viable to treat diseases and disabilities.

This discovery doesn't result in the death of fertilized human embryos, and thus would effectively respond to pro-life objections to embryonic stem cell research and therapy.

Harvard researchers warned that it could take up to ten years to perfect this highly promising process. "I can't stress eough that this technology is not ready for prime time right now" said Harvard scientist Kevin Eggan to MSNBC.

Understand the issues, and come up-to-speed on the latest news at my article, Pros & Cons of Embryonic Stem Cell Research.