Democratic weekly radio address: Stem-cell veto cynical political move

[DeepModem Mom]

CNN/AP: Democrats: Stem-cell veto cynical political move
'Last-gasp effort to stop stem cell research a roadblock to progress'
Saturday, July 22, 2006



WASHINGTON (AP) -- -- A Colorado congresswoman said Saturday that President Bush was motivated by "cold, calculated, cynical political gain" when he vetoed a bill that would expand federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.

"The president's veto had nothing to do with morals," Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colorado, said in the Democrats' weekly radio address, but instead "the kind of politics that snuffs out the candle of hope and that condemns the disabled and the sick."

DeGette and Rep. Mike Castle, R-Delaware, co-sponsored the bill, which would allow federal funds to be used in research on embryos derived from fertility treatments that would otherwise be discarded.

Supporters, who include former first lady Nancy Reagan, say embryonic stem-cell research could lead to cures for diseases such as Alzheimer's, diabetes, cancer and Parkinson's. However, the process destroys the embryo, considered a human life by many opponents of the research.

The bill passed the House last year and senators approved it Tuesday. Bush had made no secret of his opposition. On Wednesday he issued the first veto of his presidency, saying he did not want to destroy life in the name of science....

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/07/22/dems.radio.ap/index.html