President Bush did something for the very first time July 19. For the first time in his five-year presidency he vetoed a bill. President Bush's lack of a veto to this point showed his trust in the judgment of Congress. But when it came to the use of unborn children for use in scientific research, President Bush drew the line. It was a brave move on his part and it was a move that will draw him heavy fire across the board.
The bill that the President vetoed was H.R. 810, a measure that would have used taxpayer dollars to fund embryonic stem cell research. This issue is one that holds numerous parallels to the abortion debate. The use of embryos for research is similar to abortion in that a human life is destroyed but it is dissimilar in that this research holds a glimmer of hope that it could help people with serious illness and injury. As far as I am concerned though it is not worth a human life. Who should decide when one life is worth another? People think about this and make a decision without truly examining what they are saying.
In a letter to Congress intended to explain his decision, President Bush stated, "If this bill were to become law, American taxpayers for the first time in our history would be compelled to fund the deliberate destruction of human embryos. Crossing this line would be a grave mistake and would needlessly encourage a conflict between science and ethics that can only do damage to both and harm our nation as a whole."
Science and ethics have always been on a scale with one another. This is why we first test new medicines and medical techniques on lab rats. We don't test drugs on human beings because we value human life. It seems though that when it comes to stem cells, a human life is expendable.
Stem cell research has many famous endorsers. The late Christopher and Dana Reeve were both active supporters. After Christopher Reeve was paralyzed in 1994 he became a tireless advocate for paralysis research. Stem cell research has shown promise in the fight to reverse paralysis but it has not gotten much farther than success in lab rats. Nancy Reagan and her son Ron Jr. have both also fought for stem cell research. Originally, it was done in hopes of relieving former President Reagan from the ravages of Alzheimer's disease. Now it is done in his memory.
The fear with embryos destroyed for research is that they would someday be developed and harvested simply for science. That is too much to sacrifice in the name of research. It is a moral line we cannot cross in this country.
There's no denying the massive relief that stem cell drugs could bring to the world of medicine. It could one day put an end to diabetes, paralysis, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and so on. There is incredible potential here. But we must approach this cautiously.
What I fear is that if we pursue embryonic stem cell research with recklessness and no thought to current or future consequences, the results could be disastrous. Imagine a day where pharmaceutical companies offer an expecting mother cash for their unborn children. Personally I'd rather not see that day.
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