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NRL News
National
Right to Life Criticizes Senate Passage of Bill WASHINGTON (April 25, 2007) — The U.S. Senate on April 11 approved legislation (S. 5) that would mandate federal funding of the type of stem cell research that requires the killing of human embryos. President Bush says that he will veto the legislation. The House of Representatives passed very similar legislation (H.R. 3) on January 11 by a vote of 253-174, which was 32 votes short of the two-thirds majority that would be required to override a veto. (See February NRL News, pages 22-23.) However, the House must also give final approval to S. 5 before it can be sent to President Bush. As of NRL News deadline on April 25, the House Democratic majority leadership had not yet announced when that vote would occur, but it is expected sometime during May. The veto is expected to follow soon thereafter. In the Senate, the bill was supported by 44 Democrats, two independents, and 17 Republicans. It was opposed by two Democrats (Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania), and by 32 Republicans. Three Democratic supporters of the bill were absent. The margin by which the Senate passed S. 5, 63-34, was two votes short of a two-thirds majority. If the three absent supporters had all had been present, the tally would have been 66-34 — one vote short of a two-thirds majority. (The Senate roll call can be viewed in the NRLC Senate scorecard in the Legislative Action Center on the NRLC website, at http://www.capwiz.com/nrlc/home/ ) Commenting on the Senate’s action, Douglas Johnson, legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), said: “The congressional Democratic leadership is again engaged in political demagoguery, making claims for embryonic stem cell research that go far beyond any evidence. Not a single human patient has yet been helped by stem cells obtained by killing human embryos. Meanwhile, many thousands of human patients have been helped with other types of stem cells, obtained in non-controversial ways that do not require harming human embryos.” Johnson also noted, “There were no surprises on this roll call. All returning senators voted the same way they voted on very similar legislation in 2006. All of the new senators voted as they said would during their 2006 campaigns.” In a statement issued on April 11, after the Senate action, President Bush said, ”I believe this will encourage taxpayer money to be spent on the destruction or endangerment of living human embryos — raising serious moral concerns for millions of Americans. . . . I believe this early stage is precisely when it is most important to develop ethically responsible techniques, so the potential of stem cells can be explored without violating human dignity and life. . . This bill crosses a moral line that I and many others find troubling. If it advances all the way through Congress to my desk, I will veto it.” The Senate also passed S. 30 (sponsored by Senators Norm Coleman, R-Mn., and Johnny Isakson, R-Ga.), a bill to encourage research on stem cells obtained in ways that do not require the harming of human embryos. The vote was 70 to 28, with the negative votes coming from supporters of embryo-killing research. NRLC had no objection to S. 30, and the bill is supported by President Bush. However, it is unclear whether the House Democratic leadership will allow the House to vote on S. 30. For further updates on this issue, and to send communications to your senators and U.S. House member in support of President Bush’s imminent veto, visit the Legislative Action Center at http://www.capwiz.com/nrlc/home/, or call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to the office of your representative. For more information on human embryo research, human cloning, human fetus farming, and related issues, go to the NRLC website page at http://www.nrlc.org/killing_embryos/index.html, and to http://www.stemcellresearch.org/ |