Conservatives Lament House Passage of Embryonic Stem-Cell Research Bill

Conservatives Lament House Passage of Embryonic Stem-Cell Research Bill

By Jim Brown and Jenni Parker
January 12, 2006

WASHINGTON, DC (AgapePress) - A leading conservative voice in Washington is decrying the U.S. House of Representatives' passage of legislation mandating the use of tax dollars for research that destroys human embryos.

By a 253-174 vote, the House passed H.R. 3, a bill that would expand federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research, or ESCR. President George W. Bush has vowed to veto the legislation, saying it "would use federal taxpayer dollars to support and encourage the destruction of human life for research."

The vote on the legislation fell 32 votes short of the two-thirds margin required to overturn the President's promised veto. H.R. 3 is the same as a bill that Bush vetoed July 19 of last year; a veto override attempt at that time failed by 51 votes.

American Values president and former U.S. presidential candidate Gary Bauer calls the House vote a sad one, particularly in light of an announced breakthrough from several research hospitals indicating that an abundance of stem cells can be recovered from amniotic fluid without harm to the mother or child. "To me," the conservative activist says, "it shows that this vote is all about politics more than it is about science."

On the positive side, Bauer notes, "while unfortunately this legislation passed, it did not pass with a veto-proof margin, so we will be counting on the president to veto this bill."

President Bush has been "outstanding" on the issue of life in general and specifically on the issue of embryonic stem-cell research, the American Values spokesman points out. He says Bush understands that Americans with deep moral objections to killing human embryos do not want their tax dollars paying for research that does exactly that. ...
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