Senate Approves Stem Cell Bill

The Senate passed a measure Wednesday to lift the restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, moving the legislation one step closer to another presidential veto.

The Senate approved the bill, 63-34. And the House now must vote on the legislation before sending it to President Bush for another promised veto.

Bush used the first veto of his presidency to block a similar measure last year, but the result Wednesday was four votes short of the margin necessary for an override. The similar measure also received 63 votes last year.

The legislation would roll back Bush’s ban on federal funding for any embryonic stem cell strain created after Aug. 9, 2001.

The Senate version, offered by  Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) differs slightly from a bill approved by the House earlier this year to roll back the president’s ban.

If the House passes the Senate bill, the upper chamber would move first to vote on an override, one Democratic Senate aide said, putting more pressure on wavering members in either chamber.

The House fell more than 40 votes short of overriding Bush’s veto last summer, but Democrats picked up 18 votes when the House approved another version of the bill this year.

Supporters argue that stem research could untap a panacea of potential cures for a range of diseases, while opponents contend the science has failed to yield any real breakthroughs or cures. They also argue that the research is morally objectionable because embryos are discarded once the stem cell lines have been created.

“It is simply not true,” Harkin said during floor debate.

Instead, as Harkin and others pointed out, the bill would only allow the federal government to fund stem cell lines derived from embryos already set to be discarded by fertility clinics.