Research This!

Gerald Herbert/Associated Press



"Bush reiterated his stand to conservatives opposing his decision on stem cell research. He said today he believes life begins at conception and ends at execution." Jay Leno

There's some huge irony in the way President Bush views the stem cell research debate. Here's what he said this week. "I believe that the use of federal monies that end up destroying life is not positive, it's not good."

Well.

Apparently he's okay with spending billions of federal dollars to destroy life in the killing fields of Iraq. Just not in a laboratory.

What typical right wing claptrap. Anti stem cell research. Pro war. Anti abortion. Pro death penalty. Killing is dandy as long as it can be politically justified.

In the context of stem cell research, nobody's suggesting we create embryos in order to destroy them. The stated, scientifically justified goal is to use un-implanted embryos-ones that inevitably would be destroyed- for legitimate research. To save lives.

A bill introduced by Representative Mike Castle of Delaware would expand funding for embryonic stem cell research under strict ethical guidelines and limited to stem cells derived under careful criteria: the excess embryos must be donated by individuals seeking fertility treatment only after written informed consent and without any financial or other inducement. And the embryos would otherwise be discarded.

The House bill's got over 200 cosponsors. In the Senate, Senators Spector and Hatch have cosponsored a substantially identical bill.

So what does our president do? Sets up a photo op with a group of babies born via in vitro fertilization. Some of the babies were decked out in "Former Embryo" T-shirts. Oh please.

Where are the photos of Mr. Bush with thousands of military coffins? They could bear slogans too: "Former Live American."

Before President Bush joins a debate on the theoretical concept of life, he should think long and hard about the very real deaths he's responsible for in Iraq.