Bush Vetoes Measure On Stem Cell Research

President George W. Bush yesterday issued his second veto of a measure lifting his restrictions on human embryonic stem cell experiments. “Destroying human life in the hopes of saving human life is not ethical,” said President Bush. The conservative Republican called the United States “a nation founded on the principle that all human life is sacred.”

The veto, only the third of President Bush’s presidency, puts him at odds not only with the majority of voters, according to public opinion polls, but also with many members of his own political party. Republicans sent him a similar measure last year when they controlled Congress. But even with considerable support from the Republican minority this year, Democrats concede they do not have enough votes for a veto override. That means decisions about federal financing for embryonic stem cell experiments are likely to fall into the hands of the next occupant of the White House.

Advocates for the research say they have not given up trying to turn the vetoed measure into law. They are now considering trying to attach the bill to legislation that President Bush would be reluctant to reject, like an appropriations bill for the National Institutes of Health. Rep. Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said Democrats might hold an override vote, if only to redraw attention to President Bush’s opposition to the studies.

My response: Good move by President Bush. I would have also vetoed this legislation. However, I differ with President Bush's motivation for his veto. For him, it is a moral issue and thus his socially conservative viewpoint on it. For me, it is not. My argument is libertarian: I support embryonic stem cell research, but not federal funds for it. If such research is the next big thing that supporters claim it to be, then private enterprise and private donations can (and increasingly are) step up to the plate and fund the research. The research and development dollars they plugged in would be more than made up by profits from medicinal cures. Federal funding supporters' actions tell me that they believe such research is (1) still too iffy an enterprise; with (2) highly dubious benefits; and thus (3) scientists want a federal government guarantee — which will reward inefficiency.

It should be noted that blacks - the mostly solidly Democratic group in USA - are one of the groups least supportive of any form of stem cell research: 48% support it, 44% oppose it, and 8% don't know. Only white evangelical Protestants oppose it more, and barely so. As a group, blacks even oppose the issue more so than conservatives. Black opinion is probably a combo of religious beliefs (62% of blacks identify as evangelical Christian) and historical skepticism toward scientific endeavors (given eugenics and the infamous Tuskegee experiment done on black men back in the day, both promoted by liberal activists at the time).