PROFESSIONBush vetoes bill allowing more federal funding for stem cell researchDespite the presidential veto, embryonic stem cell researchers are optimistic that bipartisan support for federal funding shows time is on their side.By Kevin B. O'Reilly, amednews staff. Aug. 7, 2006. Both sides in the debate over embryonic stem cell research had something to cheer about in last month's events on Capitol Hill. Supporters took heart after the Senate voted 63-37 on a bill that would allow federal funding for stem cell research on embryos scheduled to be discarded by fertility clinics. Opponents applauded when President Bush used the first veto of his tenure to prevent the bill from becoming law, followed by a House vote failing to override the veto. Supporters of federal funding such as the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research, which counts more than 90 patient, scientific and physician organizations, including the AMA, as members, said time is on their side. "Passing the bill in the Senate by such a large margin and forcing the president into the first veto of his administration, while it's not the policy outcome we would have wanted, makes it clear that the American people are on our side on this," said Sean B. Tipton, CAMR president. Robert Scheidt, MD, chair of the ethics commission of the Christian Medical and Dental Assns., said he was not surprised by the Senate vote but was pleased by the president's action. "It was an error in judgment by the Senate," said Dr. Scheidt, a retired general surgeon. "The president's veto was a properly used veto. From any perspective, the production of human embryos and their destruction at 14 days is the ending of human life. It violates a basic ethical rule, which is don't do evil that good may come." [...]Full text of American Medical News content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.
Copyright 2006 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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The doctors are in the house
The AMA's House of Delegates is holding its Interim Meeting Nov. 7-10 in Houston, addressing issues such as health system reform and physician payment. Meeting coverage - Slideshow Feature articlesHealth reform review The Massachusetts experience Litigation stress Being sued is personal as well as professional Comprehensive coverage
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