Senate Approves Stem Cell Initiative, Now to Bush

The Senate voted in favor (63-37) of increasing federal funding to embryonic stem cell research, and the vote is now to Bush.

"The simple answer is he thinks murder's wrong," said White House spokesman Tony Snow. "The president is not going to get on the slippery slope of taking something living and making it dead for the purposes of scientific research."

My opinion is this: holding up life-saving therapies is more "murderous" than deciding utilize fetal tissue that would be discarded anyway. I believe that Bush, and people who follow this line, are actually much more immoral than those who would propose to use the tissue to save lives. Also, when has making "something dead for the purposes of scientific research" ever made Bush queasy before? We kill hundreds of thousands of lab animals a year, but I don't see him complaining. Its specifically about killing "a person," despite the law not defining embryos as such.

The truth is that there's too many damn people on this planet anyway. and preventative measures to keep the population at bay (and to ensure *wanted* children) are necessary. And, the law of the land is that abortion is legal. That said, does it actually seem moral to throw potentially life-saving tissue in the garbage rather than allow a therapy to be devised?

THAT seems immoral, and murderous to me.

More like this

Bush's first words after hearing this was passed - "Shit..."

Is there some sort of ambiguity regarding the alive vs. dead status of a five-day-old blastocyst? If it's alive, what is it fed and how is it otherwise nurtured and cared for?

Snow's comment is precisely analagous to "The president is not going to get on the slippery slope of taking a space shuttle and making it a unicycle for the purposes of scientific research."

Christ in a crackhouse, where do we get these frigging people?

SEE

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13918363/

The bill passed 63-37, four votes short of the two-thirds majority that would be needed to override Bush's veto.

BUT

Two stem cell measures likely to be signed (BY BUSH)

The Senate also passed two related measures 100-0 in each case that Bush was expected to sign into law.

One would encourage stem cell research using cells from sources other than embryos in an effort to cure diseases and treat injuries. The other would ban "fetal farming," the possibility of growing and aborting fetuses for research.