Thursday, June 07, 2007

US Congress votes to expand Stem Cell Research

Congress passed a bill today which would roll back the restrictions placed on embryonic stem cell research:

"The Democratic-led U.S. Congress defied President George W. Bush on Thursday and gave final approval to legislation to roll back his restrictions on federally funded embryonic stem cell research. But the 247-176 vote by the House of Representatives on the measure already passed by the Senate was short of the two-thirds majority needed to override a promised veto by Bush, who rejected a similar bill last year."

Will Georgie veto the bill again? Does the pope shit in the woods? Of course he'll veto it, once again holding researchers back from breakthroughs on a host of incurable diseases. Why? Because every little frozen embryo is a fucking "snowflake baby", tra-la-la.


Embryonic stem-cell research is yet another situation that highlights the breathtaking ignorance of fundamentalist christians such as Bush. They think that by stopping ESCR they're "saving babies", when in fact, the embryos used in ESCR are from fertility clinics -- leftovers, as it were, which if not used for research, are tossed. So all they're being "saved" for is the toilet, how that's preferable to being used for research is beyond me.

A similar mentality was at work when SCOTUS recently upheld a ban on late-term abortion. In the myopic view of the religious right, the ban stops devil-whores from getting abortions "on a whim" at 36 weeks gestation. Those rotten sluts just frivolously decide "I don't want to do this anymore", and off they go to the Vagina Vac to dispose of perfectly healthy fetuses. Reality: nobody suddenly decides late in a pregnancy that they "just don't feel like it anymore". Late-term abortions happen only under the direst of circumstances, so dire that doctors are finding other ways to do the procedure. So the ban "saves" nothing -- even the fundies are realizing that now and fighting among themselves. The net result of the ban is just more danger for women.

Such is the tunnel vision and rank stupidity of the christianists, and such is the damage they've been able to do since being allowed to infiltrate the corridors of power. What comes next remains to be seen.