President Bush has blocked legislation passed by the US Congress that would have removed some restrictions on stem cell research.
Figure 1.
President Bush holds a child born after embryo adoption
Credit: RON EDMONDS/AP/EMPICS
It is the first time that the president has used his power of veto to scupper a bill. Several senior Republicans voted for more stem cell research, but neither the House of Representatives nor the Senate had enough votes to override the president's veto.
President Bush said, “If this bill would have become law, American tax payers would, for the first time in our history, be compelled to fund the deliberate destruction of human embryos. And I'm not going to allow it. I made it clear to Congress that I will not allow our nation to cross this moral line.”
Although privately funded stem cell research is permitted, federally funded research is restricted to the 21 stem cells lines that were in existence on 9 August 2001, many of which are thought to be contaminated (BMJ 2005;330: 21415677645).
The bill would have allowed research on embryos that were left over after fertility treatment and donated by the couples involved. Fertility clinics in the United States have about 400 000 leftover frozen embryos.
Surveys indicate that most Americans support the use of embryos for stem cell research, and expanded stem cell research also has the backing of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, major newspapers, and important Republicans, such as Nancy Reagan and the governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Governor Schwarzenegger immediately authorised a loan of $150m (£80m; €120m) to his state's stem cell research institute.
President Bush announced his veto at a White House press conference, attended by families with babies who were created through “embryo adoption,” in which leftover frozen embryos are donated to unrelated infertile couples.
“These boys and girls are not spare parts,” said the president, hugging one of the children. “They remind us of that [which] is lost when embryos are destroyed in the name of research. They remind us that we all begin our lives as a small collection of cells. And they remind us that in our zeal for new treatments and cures America must never abandon our fundamental morals... With the right techniques and the right policies we can achieve scientific progress while living up to our ethical responsibilities.”
President Bush also approved a bill prohibiting “fetal farming,” the creation of embryos for research or “to harvest their parts.”