Stem Cell Veto

Here's a picture of Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Ut) speaking against Bush's veto on stem cell research with Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa) looking on.

Am I surprised that President Bush made the first veto of his 5 1/2 years as President to block stem cell research funding passed by the Senate this week? Not really. I guess the only commendable thing about this is that Bush is sticking by a promise he made 5 years ago to veto such a bill. At least he is consistently wrong! Embryos which otherwise would have been thrown away would instead be used to do groundbreaking research on cancer, diabetes and other diseases. Having recently lost a loved one to cancer, and having witnessed the daily struggles of diabetes, I am more disappointed than usual at Pres. Bush. I know that many of the people who regularly check my blog are relatively conservative and members of my Church which is consistently "pro-life," and might be inclined to disagree with me. In case you're undecided about this issue, please note that all 5 LDS Senators voted in favor of this bill (Orrin Hatch, Robert Bennett, Gordon Smith, Mike Crapo and Harry Reid), as did the Senate Majority Leader, Dr. Bill Frist and my favorite Republican, Arlen Specter. Unfortunately, the Senate is 4 votes short (both Idaho Senators voted against it) of the 67 needed to overide Bush's veto, and the House fell 51 votes short this afternoon. I fear that the voters who will decide whether or not to re-elect those who voted no won't know enough about the issue to breakdown the emotionally charged frame the White House is using to discuss this issue. Click here to find out how your senator voted, and then call their office to ask why, especially if you live in Idaho, Arizona or Texas.