Washington, Jan 12
Lawmakers in the Democratic-led US lower house approved plans to
expand government funding for human embryonic stem-cell research,
defying a threatened veto by President George W. Bush.
The bill, which requires Senate approval before it could land on
Bush's desk, signaled the first major clash between the Republican
president and the centre-left Democrats who won control of Congress
in November elections.
The proposal passed the House of Representatives by a 253-174 vote
Thursday and was also expected to clear the Senate. It would open
the door for further government funding of the research, but
specific details about money would be determined later. Cutting
across party lines, 37 Republicans joined Democrats in backing the
expansion.
But the House vote fell short of the two-thirds majority that would
be needed to override a Bush veto.
Bush, a born-again Christian who draws critical support from
socially conservative Republicans, rejected a virtually identical
bill in July that was passed by a Republican-led Congress. He said
it "crossed a moral boundary".
Many scientists believe stem-cell research holds the promise of
cures for wasting diseases such as Alzheimer's. But a restrictive US
policy adopted by Bush in 2001 limits research to some 20 lines of
human embryonic stem cells that existed at the time.
Bush opposes opening up federally funded research to new stem-cell
lines because it would allow "intentional destruction of living
human embryos for the derivation of their cells" under US law for
the first time, a White House statement said.
"Destroying nascent human life for research raises serious ethical
problems, and millions of Americans consider the practice immoral,"
the White House said.
Bush would veto the bill in its present form, the statement said.
"Researchers are now developing promising new techniques to produce
stem cells similar in nature to those derived from human embryos,
but not requiring the use of embryos," the statement said.
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