Bill may loosen Bush curbs on stem cell research

IGNORING a veto threat, the US House of Representatives moved yesterday toward approving a bill loosening President George W Bush’s restrictions on stem cell research.

Supporters were claiming prospects were enhanced by promises that such research would offer new treatments for a host of debilitating ailments.

The floor debate was framed in starkly emotional terms, particularly by opponents of federal funding for embryonic stem cell research who liken the process to abortion because human embryos would be destroyed.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said that using leftover embryos from fertility clinics amounts to the “dismemberment of living, distinct human beings” because the embryos are destroyed during the research. Conservatives offered an alternative measure to encourage research using stem cells from umbilical cords.

Supporters of embryonic stem cell research tried to cast the debate in terms of the possible medical cures that could come from it. “For America to stand back because of a moral principle and not allow sound scientific research to proceed under the umbrella of the National Institute of Health, I think, is unconscionable,” said Charlie Bas (Rep).

The bill would lift Mr Bush’s 2001 ban on funding research using stem cells from embryos harvested since 21001.

Sponsors predict the bill will garner the 218 votes needed to pass but fall short of the 290 votes needed to sustain a presidential veto.