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Stem Cell Bill
President Bush is set to exercise his right to veto, as he strongly opposes the bill currently pending in the House of Representatives over embryonic stem cell research. The bill would expand federal funding for stem cell research. Currently, taxpayer money can be used toward research on adult stem cells, those harvested from bone or blood marrow. President Bush supports adult stem cell research. However, the Congressional bill would expand federal funding to include stem cells that are harvested from leftover embryos from the fertility therapy process. The House bill does not include clauses related to human cloning, which is currently being studied by scientists in other countries like South Korea.
The Congressional bill demonstrates the major rifts between the executive and legislative branches of the American government. The president and Congress clash over Bush's Social Security reform as well as his nomination of John Bolton as United Nations ambassador. Ironically, the stem cell bill is receiving widespread support by Republican congressmen and senators. In fact, the Senate in general is more strongly in favor of expanding federal funding for stem cell research. If the current bill passes in the House of Representatives, it will likely not receive the two-thirds majority that would permit an overturning of a Presidential veto. Prominent Republicans, including senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, are strongly in favor of the bill, in direct opposition to the President's position.
Although embryonic stem cells can become any human cell or tissue, permitting cell and tissue regeneration, they are harvested from human embryos. It is a small step in the wrong direction to permit taxpayer monies to be diverted to such controversial research. Permitting an expansion of stem cell research sends the wrong message and creates an ethically ambiguous society. President Bush's assertion that embryonic stem cell research is morally wrong is an admirable stance, especially given the divisiveness the measure is causing within the federal government.
In utilitarianism, the focus is on outcomes, or the ends of an action; in deontology the actions themselves must be ethical and moral, or the outcome is moot. Deontology argues that there are norms and truths that are universal for all humans; actions then have a predisposition to right or wrong, moral or immoral. Kant believed that humans should act, at all times, as if their individual actions would
(Condic, 31) Scientists visualize immeasurable value in the application of embryonic stem cell research to comprehend human growth and the development and healing of ailments. More than 100 million Americans are ailing from the diseases that subsequently might be dealt more successfully or even cured with embryonic stem cell procedure. Majority of the researchers consider stem cell research as having large prospects for healing human ailments ever since the
" He argues that it is wrong to use these embryos even though they will just be discarded and wasted anyway. For this reason, people with grave diseases and disabilities argue that Bush needs to change his stance. CONCLUSION Stem cell research is incredibly important and should be fully examined so that we can do as much as possible to find cures and alleviate human suffering (Feinstein, 2004). It is important that
In the words of Obama, "Today, with the executive order I am about to sign, we will bring the change that so many scientists and researchers, doctors and innovators, patients and loved ones have hoped for, and fought for, these past eight years: We will lift the ban on federal funding for promising embryonic stem cell research," President Obama further said. "We will vigorously support scientists who pursue this
Embryonic Stem Cell Research The use of human embryonic stem cells in scientific research has held great promise for some but this research has also produced powerful objections from others. Indeed, there is a profound if sometimes vehemently expressed moral argument that emerges from embryonic stem cell research. The principal objections to the use of these stem cells has come from evangelicals, conservative Christians and others who equate using embryonic stem
but, Cuomo continued, Bush's position "…remains a minority view" (Hurlbut, 822). Christine Todd Whitman, who served Bush as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in Bush's first term (she served from January 2001 to May 2003), and was the first female governor of New Jersey, supported embryonic stem cell research. Whitman noted in her book that right after Bush was re-elected in 2004, Christian conservative organizer Phil Burress was heard