Specter expects Senate to override veto on stem cells

By Tom Strode - Jun 15, 2005 - comment

The stem cell battle continues in Congress, with Sen. Arlen Specter, R.-Pa., warning President Bush he expects to have enough votes to override a veto of a bill that would provide federal funds for destructive embryonic research.

The House of Representatives approved its version of the legislation May 24 in a vote far short of a veto-proof majority. When the President reaffirmed the next day his intention to veto such legislation, Specter said, according to The New York Times, “I don’t like veto threats, and I don’t like statements about overriding veto threats. I think if it really comes down to a showdown, we will have enough in the United States Senate to override a veto.”

Meanwhile, another Republican, Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, said he might try to filibuster such a bill if it reaches the floor. “I have conveyed to Senate leadership that we must do everything we can procedurally to stop unethical embryonic stem cell research in the Senate, and I will work to do just that,” he said. “We simply should not go down the road of using taxpayer dollars to kill young humans.”

Specter has 38 cosponsors for his bill, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, S. 471.

The House voted 238-194 for its version of such legislation. The House majority is about 50 votes short of the two-thirds vote that would be needed for an override.

The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and other pro-life groups oppose the legislation.

The measure in each house would underwrite research that uses embryos left over at in vitro fertilization clinics. It would alter Bush’s policy prohibiting federal funds for stem cell research that results in the destruction of human embryos. The President’s rule, announced in August 2001, allows funding for research only on embryonic stem cell lines already in existence prior to his announcement of the policy.

Further Learning

Learn more about: Life, Stem-Cell Research, Citizenship, Legislation

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