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Bush Vows another Veto of Stem-Cell Research Bill
By Anne C. Mulkem
Denver Post
April 10, 2007
Washington - President Bush said Tuesday that he will veto for a second time a bill that lifts restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research, legislation senators debated in life-and- death terms as they prepared to send it back to the Oval Office.
Patterned after legislation from Rep. Diana DeGette, a Denver Democrat, the bill is expected to pass as early as Thursday. It passed the House in January.
The bill is nearly identical to one Bush vetoed last year. It died when the House failed to override.
"The president weighed this issue very carefully back in 2001 and has thought about it since," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Tuesday. "He believes that that clear moral line that he established back in August of 2001 is a good place for the country to be."
Bush objects to spending taxpayer money on research that destroys embryos, which many Americans believe are human beings.
The legislation would nullify Bush's restriction limiting federal funding of embryonic stem- cell research to lines already in existence as of Aug. 9, 2001.
With four new supporters of the bill elected in November, the Senate is close to the two- thirds vote needed for a veto override. Senators backing the bill Tuesday said they may be one vote short. The House does not have the votes to override, however.
Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., opposes the bill. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., will vote for it.
If Bush vetoes the bill, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said, "you'll see a momentum building" to use a legislative maneuver to make it harder for Bush to veto.
Harkin chairs the health subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee, which writes spending bills. He could potentially add the stem-cell legislation to a bill that funds a federal agency. The ranking Republican on that committee, Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, also supports DeGette's legislation.
DeGette's bill allows for federal research on embryos that were created for in vitro fertilization and are scheduled to be discarded. The embryos must be donated without compensation.
Many scientists say that embryonic stem cells are unique because they divide unceasingly and have the ability to become any other cell in the body. Researchers believe that could lead to treatments for such ailments as diabetes, Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injuries and cancer.
During the debate on the embryonic stem-cell bill, senators argued in emotional terms.
"I don't think there's another piece of legislation that more involves the right to life than this piece of legislation," Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said. She supports the research, arguing that it could help people suffering from life-threatening ailments.
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., called it morally unacceptable.
"Do we steal life from the innocent to potentially give a life to the maimed, the diseased?" said Coburn, a physician.
Senators on Tuesday also debated an alternative bill that would allow research on what backers dubbed "dead embryos." Those are the embryos that are not considered viable for implantation. Backers of the embryonic stem-cell bill said they'll also support that bill.
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