"This bill supports harming human life for a chance to find medical solutions for other human beings. The law crosses a moral line that our society must respect," Bush said
US President George W. Bush, this evening (Wednesday) vetoed a bill designed to increase funding for embryonic stem cell research and cancel the restrictions imposed on it. "This bill supports harming human life for a chance to find medical solutions for other human beings. The law crosses a moral line that our society must respect," said the president. This is the first time Bush has vetoed a bill since he took office five and a half years ago.
Bush seeks to veto a bill aimed at increasing budgetary support for stem cell research
19/7/2006
A controversial bill designed to expand federal funding for stem cell research has passed the US Senate. Today (Wednesday) the American Senate approved by an overwhelming majority the easing of embryonic stem cell research contrary to the position of the US President, George Bush. The scientific community accepted the decision with joy, and expressed hope that now the research will be able to shake off the attempts to harm it by conservative elements. 63 members of the Senate voted in favor of granting the reliefs, and only 37 voted against.
The proposal may encounter the opposition of President Bush, who said that in order to block the legislation, he would use his right of veto for the first time. Public opinion polls show that the majority of the American public supports the research, which scientists hope will lead to cures for serious diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. However, Bush opposes embryonic stem cell research on moral grounds.
The Senate vote is expected to take place today, after two days full of discussions on three different bills. The most controversial proposal, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, would loosen the restrictions on research imposed by President Bush in 2001. The proposal was passed by a vote in the House of Representatives.
In the years that have passed since the president's decision was enforced, the pressure from researchers to remove the restrictions has also increased. Leading public propaganda campaigns in favor of stem cells also included prominent "Republicans", including Nancy Reagan, whose husband former President Ronald Reagan died after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.
One of the main arguments against embryonic stem cell research focuses on the ethical and moral questions it raises. The main controversy stems from the fact that the origin of the stem cells is in human embryos from which new cells are "harvested".
The stem cells are usually extracted from dead human embryos donated to science, by women who have had abortions at various stages of pregnancy. Scientists in the US claim that there is a connection between President Bush's strong opposition to abortion and his opposition to stem cell research, and they call for separating politics from science.
Drafting and editing: H. J. Glykasm, translations and technical writing
