What a Bush Veto Would Mean for Stem Cells

Time Magazine, advocating on behalf of Frankenstein-like experiments on human embryos, posits that a Bush veto "could slow research, but scientific ingenuity is cooking up new breakthroughs":

George W. Bush seldom suffered personally from doing what's unpopular politically. In fact, you could argue that he has made a career of it, holding fast to positions that many voters reject, as a sign of strength in these dangerous times. So his willingness to exercise his first-ever veto this week on a bill that would expand federal funding for human embryonic-stem-cell research, which 2 out of 3 voters favor, is not just a way to stroke his political base. "People like leadership much better than a finger in the wind," says White House press secretary Tony Snow. As Bush explained to him while in St. Petersburg, Russia, for the G-8 summit last week, "I took a position. I believe in it. So that's what I'm going to do."

But most Republicans are not George Bush--among other things, they still need to get re-elected--which is why, as a Northeastern G.O.P. official said, the issue of stem-cell research could be "a stinker" for the party. "When you're portrayed as arguing against treatment of disease," he admits, "it's a tough place to be politically." Democrats, who overwhelmingly support expanded research, seem happy with the looming veto as a consolation prize; some were already running ads. "It's going to be a symbol of standing in the way of progress," says Illinois Congressman Rahm Emanuel, whose job it is to get Democrats re-elected. "This is a game changer in a lot of districts." As for patients, present and future, who have a personal stake in the fight, the good news is that the fate of the bill may not mean as much as either side suggests.

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The good news for all sides is that over the course of this long argument, researchers have learned more about how stem cells work, and the science has outrun the politics. Adult cells, such as those found in bone marrow, were thought to be less valuable than embryonic cells, which are "pluripotent" master cells that can turn into anything from a brain cell to a toenail. But adult cells may be more elastic than scientists thought, and could offer shortcuts to treatment that embryonic cells can't match.

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(emphasis added)

My Comments:
If killing people to canibalize their parts is "progress", then count me as a Luddite. Besides, if this kind of research is SO "promising", then the private sector should pick up the tab. Don't come asking for my tax dollars.