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Life is cheap, embryos precious Editorial Article Last Updated: 06/22/2007 02:59:03 AM EDT Friday, June 22 To measure the president that George W. Bush has become, look no further than his three vetoes: Two have blocked federal funding for expanded embryonic stem cell research, the other has rejected an Iraq spending bill because it set a timetable for the withdrawal of American troops. Hypocrisy is a familiar trait among politicians, but seldom is it displayed in so crystalline a form. President Bush asserts that "destroying human life in the hopes of saving human life is not ethical," so federal funds cannot be spent on research that would entail the destruction of leftover embryos at fertility clinics. Meanwhile, it is ethical to destroy human life in Iraq to support the vague and shifting goals of the war. The Iraqi death toll has been estimated at anywhere from 65,000 to more than 655,000. With his support among Americans at an all-time low, President Bush has become the president of the right-wing fringe. It is easy to view Wednesday's veto of the stem cell bill in the dull light of politics: It will hand Democratic candidates for president and Congress another issue on which to campaign, and it will further delineate the difference between moderate Republicans and the administration. But the veto has repercussions beyond the political. Embryonic stem cell research holds the potential of discovering new ways to treat a host of incurable diseases, from multiple sclerosis to Parkinson's. It is sound science that needs and deserves federal funding to advance. The European Union understands this. Last July, European Parliament approved $64 billion in funds to support stem cell research for six years. Several of the EU's 25 member nations objected, particularly the heavily-Catholic countries of Poland, Lithuania and Slovakia. But the concerns of the majority were eased when the EU's research commissioner assured Parliament that only embryos that would otherwise be discarded would be used. President Bush has now vetoed precisely the same bill. He urges scientists to focus on existing stem cell lines and to seek alternative paths to the same discoveries, never mind that unused embryos are sitting in fertility clinics, wasted. This policy creates needless obstacles for inarticulate "moral" reasons while Europe is blazing ahead. It is the same policy that President Bush announced in August 2001, when Americans were beginning to see the hollow core of his compassionate conservatism. His approval ratings were rescued by the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and he never looked back. Now, faced with slumping approval ratings and mired in a war that he doesn't know how to end, he is afraid to look forward. Rayilyn Brown Board Member AZNPF Arizona Chapter National Parkinson's Foundation [log in to unmask] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn