Bush Vetoes Stem Cell Bill

[Talus]

There is no separation of church & state in the US Constitution. There is however the establishment clause which states that the government does not have the power to establish an official state religion. This gets confused a lot so people often invoke a constitutional separation of church & state that does not and has not ever existed.

However, with regards to stem cell research, Bush dropped the ball. Part of seeking "the good life" for most people includes advances in technology that can potentially make their lives, or the lives of loved ones better. The veto pretty much flies in the face of popular opinion, on an issue that is non-partisan. It's sad, for the people that have MS, MD, Alzheimer's, and numerous other diseases and illnesses that could have benefitted from the bill's passage.

[Quicklet]

It just seems a tad utopian for people to have this almost unrealistic expectation that embryonic stem cells are going to result in the solution to all these genetic diseases. Whether or not the federal government funds embryonic stem cell research, it will still proceed through private and state funds.

[Talus]

I don't think people have unrealistic expectations - it's just that it's a promising area of research and there's a lot of potential in it. Yes, stem cell research will still continue predominantly via private venues but a problem with the veto is without federal funding there is less accountability since the only people that private firms answer to are their boards and shareholders.

[Trojaxx]

Here's the John Stewart/Daily Show clip : http://www.spikedhumor.com/articles/423 ... _Veto.html

annnd the follow up Daily Show clip:
http://www.spikedhumor.com/articles/423 ... eases.html

It shows what bushes supporters did to try and convice the public that stem cell research is wrong, with posters drawn by 8 year olds..

[Krylanna]

There is no separation of church & state in the US Constitution. There is however the establishment clause which states that the government does not have the power to establish an official state religion. This gets confused a lot so people often invoke a constitutional separation of church & state that does not and has not ever existed.

Following the letter of the law, so to speak, this is exactly correct. But the spirit of the first amendment in the opinion of many is violated when laws catering specifically to a particular sect are made. It's a gaping loophole, basically. The government can't openly come out in support of a particular religion, but it can openly craft its legal documents around its doctrine. Slightly roundabout way of getting the same end result, laws are directly determined by religious doctrine. It's "ok" in this country, but that doesn't mean it's right.

So yeah, let's just discard all those unwanted embryos, or keep them frozen indefinitely on the off-chance that someone will request them rather than making their own baby (producing even more excess embryos) or adopting one that has already been born and needs a family now. Heaven forbid we try to make their wasteful existance worth something bigger than they will ever become thawing out in a locked dumpster behind a fertility clinic. That would be murder.