Congress passes stem cell funding bill

[Guest guest]

Congress passes stem cell funding bill

Legislation eases restrictions on controversial embryonic research

The Associated Press

Updated: 1:37 p.m. PT June 7, 2007

The Democratic-controlled Congress passed legislation Thursday to

loosen restraints on federally funded embryonic stem cell research,

but the bill's supporters lacked the votes needed to override

President Bush's threatened veto.

The 247-176 House vote marked the second time in recent weeks that

Democratic leaders chose to confront Bush over an issue on which they

command widespread public support, following a veto struggle over a

proposed troop withdrawal timetable from Iraq.

This time the controversy is at the uneasy intersection of medical

research and politics, involving a type of cell that the National

Institutes of Health says might serve as " a sort of repair system for

the body. "

House Speaker Pelosi, D-Calif., appealed to Bush moments before

the bill passed to sheath his " cruel veto pen, " and sign legislation

that she said could help " save lives, find cures and give hope to

those suffering. "

But the president responded quickly with a written statement that

accused majority Democrats of recycling an old measure that he vetoed

a year ago. Under the bill, " American taxpayers would for the first

time in our history be compelled to support the deliberate

destruction of human embryos. Crossing that line would be a grave

mistake, " he said in a statement issued in Germany, site of a summit

of world leaders.

The bill drew the support of 210 House Democrats and 37 Republicans.

Despite the bipartisanship, the total was 35 votes fewer than needed

to override a veto.

The Senate cleared the bill several weeks ago by a margin that was

one vote short of the two-thirds needed to overcome Bush's objections.

No suspense

There was no suspense about the outcome in the House, although

personal experience punctuated Thursday's hour-long debate to an

unusual degree.

Rep. DeGette, D-Colo., the bill's chief Democratic supporter,

spoke of her daughter's struggle with juvenile diabetes. " As you can

imagine, I am anxious about the idea of my child having to manage

such a serious condition all by herself " once she goes to college,

she said. " I share this anxiety with many parents of affected

children. "

Moments later Rep. Langevin, D-R.I., paralyzed since a gun

accident severed his spinal cord several years ago, addressed the

House from his motorized wheelchair. An opponent of abortion,

Langevin said, " My education on this issue has filled me with

tremendous hope, not only that stem cell research might one day lead

to a cure for spinal cord injuries, but that one day ... families

will no longer watch in agony as a loved one with Parkinson's or

Alzheimer's gradually declines. "

Opponents of the measure said they, too, support medical research,

but insisted that the use of embryonic stem cells was the wrong

approach on moral grounds — and possibly not even the most promising

one scientifically.

" You're talking about spare embryos now, but if it ever did work ...

it would require the killing of millions of embryos, " said Rep. Chris

, R-N.J.

He said a recent report by the U.S. Catholic Conference listed

numerous breakthroughs involving medical research conducted with

adult stem cells, umbilical cord blood and amniotic fluid, none of

which involve the destruction of a human embryo.

Several opponents of the measure also cited a day-old report from

scientists who said they had succeeded in turning ordinary skin cells

from mice into an embryonic state.

Clear political subtext

Whatever the scientific implications, the political subtext was clear.

The stem cell legislation was one of six bills that Pelosi placed at

the top of her agenda when Congress convened, and she chose to

preside when the measure passed. So far, the only other measure among

the six to make it to the White House was a minimum wage increase.

According to the National Institutes of Health Web site, scientists

were first able to conduct research with embryonic stem cells in 1998.

There were no federal funds for the work until Bush announced on Aug.

9, 2001, that his administration would make it available for lines of

cells that already were in existence.

Elected with the strong support of abortion foes and other

conservatives, he said at the time his decision was designed to

balance concerns about " protecting life and improving life. "

He also limited the funds to cell lines derived from embryos that

were surplus at fertility clinics, and that had been donated from

adults who had given informed consent.

Advocates of the veto-threatened legislation argue that the number of

stem cell lines available for research is smaller than needed, and

that some of the material has become contaminated over time by mouse

embryonic skin cells that typically are placed at the bottom of

culture dishes used in the research.

The bill would permit funding for research on embryonic stem cells

regardless of the date of their creation, as long as they were

donated from in-vitro fertilization clinics, they would " otherwise be

discarded " and donors gave their approval.

" No stem cell would ever be taken from an embryo that was not

destined to be destroyed in any event, " said Rep. Mike Castle, a

Delaware Republican who has long bucked his party leaders to support

the measure.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19092515/