To clarify, stem cell research on embryos is not illegal in the US and Bush has not tought to make it illegal.

Bush's stance is that it remain legal but not be funded with federal tax dollars, because many people (like Catholics) believe it to be a sin to capitalize on embryonic fetal tissue.

The whole matter is not a question of politics, nor science - it's a question of money.

All about money.

Harvard University for example does stem cell research. That school is sitting on an endowment of some $25 billion. They could use their vast financial resources to do stem cell studies, but no, they want more federal largesse.

The Wright brothers did not need federal help to build their airplane.

There's gobs of money sitting in private charities and private companies that can go to stem cell research. More than enough without mixing in tax dollars and forcing some people to subsidize something they believe to be a grievous sin.

Please excuse my ignorance, but what is done with the embryos after the stem lines are created? Are they just refrozen and placed back in the bank?

I do find it interesting the stem cell research on embryos has produced little if any advances and reports are that cancer like growths have been experienced because the cells can not be controlled; where as adult stem cell research has produced results. Ignoring any political aspects of this issue, the money should go where the breakthroughs are being made. Unfortunately, politics does enter into this equation and for some reason those that support embryonic stem cell research just can’t let go. As is what too often happens, those that have invested their creditability in one side or the other of an issue can not follow the evidence and facts to a logical conclusion. A sorry waste of resources and public and private funds is the result.

It is simply not correct to say that thus procedure is harmless. The cell extraction procedure is known from IVF work to render some percentage of embryos nonviable, though it does seem that embryos that do survive the procedure suffer no ill effect.

The clinging to embryonic research is partly from researchers who are heavily invested in it (years milking grant lines) not wanting to have to start over. But, still, working with the person's own stem cells is clearly much more ideal from the standpoint of rejection, at least as long as the genes responsible for the problem in the first place aren't a deal killer.

However, I think the line is being held so firmly on embryonic stem cells from other quarters because it is very close cousin to the abortion issue. The unrestricted abortion crowd probably sees it as another rampart to defend.

FWIW I don't think the embryonic and adult research are far enough along to definitively say embryonic work is no longer needed, period. But that is a far cry from not allowing restrictions on it in the meantime.

To be clear, this procedure is no MORE harmful to embryos than the equivalent procedure used for genetic testing in IVF. But the Bush standard us actually tougher than the standards applied to IVF. Inconsistent? Perhaps, but at least with IVF objecting taxpayers are not footing the bill.

sorry, us --> is in both posts. Damn iPhone!

Bush duped the religious right big time -- he ensured that embryonic stem-cell research would remain legal -- but the press played into his hands by implying he made it illegal simply by refusing to use federal funds.

I suppose I'm on the religious right, so what duping do you mean? I read Bush's original statement when he issued its quite clear and understandable. What the media and BDS crowd did was create and repeat untruths, or at a minimum, exaggerations and misimpressions. If it comes back to haunt them, so be it.

If you accept the premise that it is wrong to use an embryo as a means to an end, such as research or development -- as opposed to allowing an embryo to develop naturally -- then this is still unacceptable.

If the embryonic human being has rights, it has the right not to be used in this fashion; that the embryo isn't "destroyed" is not the line.