So — President Bush has finally liberated his veto pen:
President Bush today used the first veto of his presidency to stop legislation that would have lifted restrictions on federally funded human embryonic stem cell research.
“This bill would support the taking of innocent human life in the hope of finding medical benefits for others,” Bush, speaking at the White House, said after he followed through on his promise to veto the bill. “It crosses a moral boundary that our decent society needs to respect. So I vetoed it.”
Surrounding himself with adopted former embryos, of course, made this a full-on ethical war, and Polimom sees major repercussions down the line in the abortion trenches.
Bush addressed the issue in the White House’s East Room surrounded by two dozen families — including one from Alexandria, another from Ellicott City — who adopted frozen embryos not wanted by other couples and used the embryos to have children.
“These boys and girls are not spare parts,” Bush said. “They remind us of what is lost when embryos are lost in the name of research.”
What a soap opera of a scene.
Obviously nobody’s surprised; he’s been broadcasting this intention all week. Still — just what we needed: another battleground.
The veto insures that stem cell research will be a front-and-center issue during the months leading to the November midterm elections.
While the veto pleases socially conservative voters that the Republican Party needs to maintain control of the Senate and House, it angers many other groups of voters. Polls show most Americans support human embryonic stem cell research.
Oh my yes. Front and center indeed. Good thing we’ve got nothing else to think about right now, eh?