The U.S. Senate's 63-34 vote April 11 supporting legislation promoting the destruction of human embryos for federally funded stem cell research fell short of the two-thirds majority necessary to override President George Bush's promised veto of the bill (S. 5).
Opponents of S. 5, the "Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007," say congressional opposition to the bill is enough for now to uphold the President's veto in both the Senate and the House, which passed a similar measure (H.R. 3) in January on a 253-174 vote.
A Senate bill (S. 30) authorizing alternative ways to pursue stem call research without harming human embryos was also approved April 11 by a wider margin of 70-28. Both the White House administration and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops have expressed support for S. 30.
"With enactment of S. 5, millions of taxpayers would be forced to promote attacks on innocent human life in the name of scientific progress," said Richard M. Doerflinger, deputy director of the USCCB Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities in a written statement released April 11 following the Senate's evening vote.
"Americans have not been required to assist in such direct exploitation of vulnerable human life in the past. Because the President has promised to veto this bill, and opposition to it in Congress is sufficient to uphold his veto in both the House and Senate, we expect that this terrible burden will not be placed on the American people now."
Many members of Congress, said Doerflinger, remain "dazzled by irresponsibly hyped promises of 'miracle cures' from the destruction of human embryos, although experts in the field increasingly admit that treatments from this avenue may be decades away.
"This debate continues to divert attention and resources away from the demonstrated therapeutic promise of morally sound research using adult and cord blood stem cells. Not only embryonic human beings, but suffering patients and their families, are victims of the Senate's fixation on destructive research," said Doerflinger.
Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council based in Washington D.C., expressed his gratitude to bipartisan members of Congress who voted against S. 5.
"I welcome the ethical stand 34 senators embraced to oppose forcing taxpayers to fund research that requires the destruction of embryonic human life," said Perkins. "I particularly applaud the support of Republicans Mitch McConnell and Sam Brownback, as well as Democrats Ben Nelson and Bob Casey for their hard work."
Perkins urged immediate expansion of adult stem cell research "that is treating people now, like the study just published April 10 in JAMA in which diabetic patients were treated successfully. This study done in Brazil showed that, for the first time, adult stem cells were used to treat 13 patients with diabetes. This is precisely the type of stem cell research we should be expanding here in the U.S."
In a letter to U.S. senators April 4, Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia, chairman of the USCCB's Committee for Pro-Life Activities, stressed that the stem cell issue is "not a matter of supporting vs. opposing progress."
"The question," said Cardinal Rigali, "is whether our technical progress is guided by an equally advanced sense of the dignity of each and every human life, so our technology becomes a servant to humanity and not our cruel master. The technological imperative --- the conviction that if an interesting research avenue exists, it must be pursued whatever the moral and human cost --- has governed this debate for too long.
"As Pope Benedict XVI said to stem cell researchers in Rome last September, research that relies on 'the planned suppression of human beings who already exist, even if they have not yet been born,' is 'not truly at the service of humanity.'"
Cardinal Rigali pointed out that "after almost three decades of research in mouse embryonic stem cells and nine years in the human variety, researchers can scarcely point to any safe and effective 'cure' in mice let alone human beings.
"Problems such as uncontrollable growth and tumor formation have forced researchers to conclude that it may take a decade or more of very expensive research even to determine whether embryonic stem cells may someday be used to treat a human condition.
"At the same time, ethically sound research using non-embryonic stem cells has continued to advance, helping patients with over 70 conditions in clinical trials (see www.stemcellresearch.org).
"Since Congress debated this issue last summer, further evidence has emerged on the versatility of adult stem cells…. It seems virtually every byproduct of live birth --- amniotic fluid, amniotic membrane, placenta, cord blood, and the tissue of the umbilical cord itself --- contains stem cells that may rival embryonic stem cells in their flexibility," said Cardinal Rigali.
He praised S. 30 for its morally acceptable methods of stem cell research that do not involve harming or destroying a living human embryo. According to Cardinal Rigali, S. 30 gives priority to research that provides benefits for patients in the short term --- "a priority that supporters of S. 5 have neglected in their zeal for speculative embryo research." |