238 support funding for stem cell research
The House seeks a compromise on embryonic research regulations.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
WASHINGTON -- Defying a veto threat from President Bush, the House approved legislation Tuesday to lift restrictions that went into effect four years ago on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.
The debate over the issue has pitted the hopes of patients suffering from debilitating ailments against the moral objections of conservatives, who see embryos as tantamount to children.
The 238-194 vote brought together most Democrats and 50 Republicans, who feared that the United States was being left behind in an emerging area of medical research because of objections from abortion opponents and religious conservatives.
The legislation has strong support in the Senate, as well as the backing of some leading conservatives, such as Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. A spokesman for Hatch said the senator believed the legislation had the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. Supporters in the Senate are urging Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., to schedule a vote soon.
Political predicament
The House vote puts Bush in a political predicament. Core constituencies in the Republican political base oppose embryonic stem cell research, but a recent Gallup poll found that 60 percent of Americans find it morally acceptable. Tuesday, Bush stood his ground.
Meeting with families who have had children from embryos donated by other couples, the president said the vote raised "grave moral issues."
"This bill would take us across a critical ethical line by creating new incentives for the ongoing destruction of emerging human life," Bush said. "Crossing this line would be a great mistake."
On the House floor, Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, likened embryonic research to "killing some in the hopes of saving others."
His impassioned appeal was of little avail.
Lawmakers were lobbied by patients and their families -- and even by one of their own. Rep. Jim Langevin, R-R.I., whose spine was severed in a gun accident as a teen, said from his wheelchair that he believed that embryonic stem cell research "is very consistent" with his opposition to abortion.
"What could be more pro-life than extending and improving the quality of life of people suffering from disease?" he said.
Stem cells from human embryos are thought to be able to develop into any type of cell in the body, from heart muscle to neurons in the brain. Scientists theorize that if they can discover how that development occurs, they may be able to develop a "cellular repair kit" for the human body.
The authors of the embryonic stem cell bill said they were not seeking confrontation with Bush over a veto, but instead were hoping to draw the White House into a dialogue that could lead to compromise. Indeed, support for the legislation fell short of the 290 votes that would be needed to override a presidential veto.
"A lot can happen between the passage of legislation in one house and a veto by the president of the United States," said Rep. Michael Castle, R-Del.