by John M. Curtis
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Copyright July 20, 2006
All Rights Reserved.

reaching to the choir in an election year, President George W. Bush placated his base, casting the first veto during his five-and-a-half year presidency. Faced with dwindling approval ratings, Bush threw a bone to social conservatives seeking something to get excited about for the midyear elections. With the anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage debates on the backburner, fanning the opposition to embryonic stem cells diverted attention from unsavory matters like Iraq. “It crosses a moral boundary that our decent society needs to respect, so I vetoed it,” said Bush, imposing the will of Christian evangelicals. Passed with strong majorities in the House and Senate, 60% of the population favors federal funding for creating new stem cell lines. Bush limited federal funding to existing stem cell lines in 2001, citing moral objections then to using embryos from fertility clinics.

      Evangelicals, opposed to embryonic stem cells, have no problem using in vitro fertilization and artificial insemination to treat infertility. Thousands—if not millions—of fertilized embryos die daily in fertility clinics and are routinely flushed down drains and toilets. Embryonic stem cells, while not proven yet, have the potential of treating incurable diseases like Diabetes and Parkinson's or repairing spinal cord or neurological damage. “As science brings us ever close to unlocking the secrets of human biology, it also offers temptations of manipulate human life and violate human dignity,” said Bush, sounding more like the Pope than the president of the United States. Bush has no right imposing his born-again philosophy on the scientific community, single-handedly sabotaging important medical research. Never before has any president stood so directly in the way of scientific progress.

      Dramatizing Bush's objections, the White House invited families of so-called “snowflake babies,” children born from implanted embryos. Without the laboratory techniques to join sperm and eggs, there'd be no live births from laboratory embryos. Evangelicals voice strong opposition to Assisted Reproductive Technology, once known as “test-tube babies.” Scientists don't try to “manipulate human life and violate human dignity,” they do exactly the opposite. Cellular biologists seek to find ways to alleviate human misery, cure diseases and extend life. “Our conscience and history as a nation demand that we resist this temptation,” said Bush, blaming scientists for altering God's laws. Our “conscience and history” compel the U.S. to be in the forefront of cutting edge science. Allowing religion to finger scientists as “manipulators” is precisely why the government must separate church and state.

      Religious conservatives have no problem with the U.S. leading the world in the most advanced military technology needed to prevail against any enemy. There's no religious test when it comes to finding more efficient ways to kill human beings. Fighting disease requires unbridled scientific research where religion doesn't set the parameters. Letting embryos get flushed at fertility clinics also doesn't respect innocent life. It wasn't enough vetoing stem cell legislation, Bush had to mark the occasion to push for “The Fetus Farming Prohibition Act,” criminalizing the act of creating embryos for human research. Vetoing the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, Bush prevents the federal government from funding cutting edge science. No one knows what the future holds for stem cell research. Government money is now barred from creating new stem cells from embryos.

      Human cloning promised to circumvent the thorny issue of using fertilized human embryos. Bush also opposes human cloning for developing new embryonic stem cells. Much hope was placed on the groundbreaking research of South Korea's Dr. Hwang Woo-suk, until it was determined he faked his research in 2005. Dr. Hwang's landmark paper published in the journal “Science” claimed he cloned 11 new stem cell colonies, when, in fact, he used donated embryos. “Professor Hwang admitted to fabrication,” said Roh Sung-il, chairman of Mizmedi hospital and co-author on Hwang's study. Before Hwang's fraud, California voters enthusiastically approved $4 billion legislation creating a stem cell research agency. With Hwang's fraud, no one knows the future of cloning for stem cell research. Bush's veto throws cold water on plans to use discarded embryos to develop new stem cell lines.

      Bush played politics with important scientific research, pandering to evangelicals before midyear elections. Never before has any U.S. president used his religion to meddle with scientific research. With Bush's approval ratings flagging, GOP fortunes are up in the air heading into November. While Bush got a nice bounce for handling the Lebanon crisis, he shot himself—and the GOP—in the foot for vetoing stem cell legislation. Public opinion polls showed that 60% of the public supported the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act. With the war in Iraq hurting his polls and dampening GOP prospects in November, Bush had a golden opportunity to turn things around. Worried about losing his base, he sold out GOP moderates, independents and crossover Democrats. Democrats plan to use his veto to show how out-of-touch Bush is with mainstream America.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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