George Bush: I Don't Need No Stinky Science

WASHINGTON—George W. Bush vetoed legislation for the first time in almost six years in office yesterday, saying a bill to expand federal support for embryonic stem-cell research in the United States crossed "a moral boundary.''The U.S. president, in a White House ceremony attended by parents holding young children born from adopted embryos, shored up his social conservative base, but bucked the wishes of the U.S. Congress, the majority of Americans and even prominent members of his own party.

Those who backed the bill passed by the Senate Monday night say the president's move has set back science in the U.S. and allowed religious beliefs to trump progress."By hobbling American stem-cell scientists, this veto will leave the U.S. trailing research being performed elsewhere in the world,'' said Robert M. Berdahl of the Association of American Universities."

The share of U.S. papers in this critical area of research is already declining rapidly, as other countries take advantage of the constraints imposed on our scientists.''Bush was maintaining a status quo he imposed almost five years ago, with his first prime time address to the American public on Aug. 9, 2001, when he ordered an end to any federal funding of new stem-cell lines, limiting research to the 78 lines that existed at the time.

The legislation passed by a strong bipartisan majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, but House backers yesterday could not muster the two-thirds majority needed to override the presidential veto. The vote was 235 to 193.Backers of the legislation say stem-cell research can open the door to cures for such maladies as Parkinson's disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease and spinal cord injuries.Bush and those opposed to expanding embryonic stem-cell research believe it is akin to murder and would move the country down a perilous ethical path.

Stem-cell research is federally funded in Canada.Michael Rudnicki, scientific director of the Stem Cell Network, cited benefits north of the border in the past five years because of Bush's decision. "There has been a reverse brain drain going on because of the U.S. policy,'' he said, "and we've kept some scientists who might have otherwise moved south.

"Maintaining the status quo certainly doesn't benefit stem-cell research in the U.S. and the country is definitely among the minority of countries that are quite restrictive because of religious beliefs — like Iran. The U.S. is quite isolated internationally.''Dr. Mickie Bhatia, director of the Cancer and Stem Cell Biology Research Institute at Hamilton's McMaster University, said Canadian researchers will have to align with colleagues now dependent on state and private funding in the U.S. in states such as California, Massachusetts and Connecticut."

Countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia and certainly Canada are doing good work in this area,'' Bhatia said, "but the U.S. has the critical mass, and the funding and networking will be stifled by this veto.''Bush's veto affects only federal funding; state and private funding is still available and California has earmarked some $3 billion (U.S.) for 10 years of stem-cell research.

The veto was opposed by at least two senior Republicans, both likely candidates for the party's presidential nomination in 2008: Arizona Senator John McCain and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee, a medical doctor who changed positions on stem-cell research last year.

Former first lady Nancy Reagan, an icon in the party, has become an outspoken proponent of stem-cell research since her husband, former president Ronald Reagan, died of complications from Alzheimer's disease in 2004."This bill would support the taking of innocent human life in the hope of finding medical benefits for others,'' Bush said. "It crosses a moral boundary that our decent society needs to respect, so I vetoed it. Embryonic stem cells come from human embryos that are destroyed for their cells.

Each of these human embryos is a unique human life with inherent dignity and matchless value.''The adoptive families at the ceremony gave Bush a standing ovation when he annou