US Senate defies Bush on stem-cell research

by Charlotte Raab Wed Apr 11, 7:24 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US Senate Wednesday adopted a bill to fund controversial embryonic stem-cell research, braving a new battle with
President George W. Bush who has already vetoed such legislation.
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The Senate voted 63-34 in favor of draft legislation to lift a restriction on using federal funds for stem-cell research on human embryos, but the tally was short of the two-third majority that would be needed to reverse a veto.

The White House has already set the stage for a new Bush veto, saying it was unthinkable that public tax dollars should be used to destroy human embryos.

"That's a moral line the president said he would not cross," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.

The House of Representatives passed a similar version of the bill in January, but the 253-174 vote was also short of a two-third majority.

Bush last year used his power of veto for the first time in his presidency to slap down a similar text passed in Congress, when it was controlled by his Republican party.

He argues that he is protecting human life which begins, he says, at the moment of conception.

Researchers working under the federal restrictions may currently only use cell lines which were made available prior to a ban imposed in 2001 in the first year of Bush's presidency.

But scientists have campaigned hard to end the restrictions, saying only 20 such lines now exist and the US risks falling behind in vital research which may hold the key to medical advances in treating degenerative diseases.

"These restrictions divert valuable time and effort in a way that isn't occurring in Britain and Singapore," Brock Reeve, executive director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, recently wrote in The Washington Post.

"In short, the stem cell sector is at risk of experiencing a failure to launch at the national level."

Wednesday's vote presages a new standoff between Bush and the now Democratic-controlled Congress, with the two sides already at loggerheads over a war funding bill.

A presidential veto already awaits bills, passed but not yet reconciled by each house, conditioning emergency funding for the war in
Iraq on setting a schedule for the withdrawal of US troops.

Though a less passionate issue, the stem-cell debate puts Bush at odds with many leaders of his own party, but more in tune with his conservative evangelical Christian political supporters.

"Support of embryonic stem cell research does not contradict a pro-life stance," said Mormon conservative Senator Orrin Hatch (news, bio, voting record).

"I have always been pro-life. And I believe a pro-life agenda demands that we care for the living -- not just the unborn, but we care for both."

Christian organizations however have loudly condemned what they say is the exploitation of embryos.

"Millions in the faith community believe that destroying embryos, through embryonic stem cell research, is the tragic taking of innocent human life," said the head of the evangelical lobby Patrick Mahoney.

"In light of this, it is extremely disturbing that the United States Senate would seek passage of a bill that would force Christians to pay for embryonic stem cell research with public tax dollars.

"This shows utter contempt and disdain by the United States Senate for people of faith."

The Senate also approved Wednesday by a large majority, 70-28, a compromise text that the scientific community has deemed unnecessary.

The text would encourage stem-cell research on "embryos that have naturally lost the ability to develop into fetuses, such as those that have died 'naturally' during fertility treatments."