Bush Vetoes Repeal of Fetal Tissue Research Ban

As expected, President Bush on Tuesday vetoed legislation that would have overturned a federal ban on fetal tissue research, saying that such work is “inconsistent with our nation’s deeply held beliefs” and that many Americans find it “morally repugnant.”

Bush, who made it clear early in the bill’s history that he would never support research that involved using tissue obtained from elective abortions, said he found the legislation “unacceptable to me on almost every ground: ethical, fiscal, administrative, philosophical and legal.

“I repeatedly warned the Congress of this at each stage of the legislative process,” he added. “Let it be clear: This is not a moratorium on research. It is only a moratorium on the use of one source of tissue for that research.”

The House immediately scheduled an override vote for today, but supporters of the legislation are not expected to muster the two-thirds vote needed. When the chamber approved the bill three weeks ago, the vote was 260 to 148. In the Senate, 85 members voted for the legislation. Congress has failed to override any of President Bush’s 28 vetoes.

The controversial provision, part of a bill to reauthorize National Institutes of Health programs, would allow the resumption of research using fetal tissue from abortions. Medical researchers believe that such work ultimately could benefit patients with Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, Huntington’s disease, spinal cord injuries and a host of other conditions.

Fetal tissue is especially adaptive to transplantation, and scientists hope that transplanted fetal cells will take over the functions of cells that have been destroyed or damaged.

“After people with Parkinson’s and diabetes have pleaded with the President not to ignore them and after a (Ronald) Reagan-appointed commission said the research was important and should be done and after some of Congress’ strongest pro-life members have urged him to help, the President has given in to the most extreme anti-abortion groups,” said Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles), author of the measure. “He’s told people with these diseases that their disease is too controversial to cure.”

But Douglas Johnson, legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee, praised Bush’s action. “We agree with the President that it’s wrong to kill pre-born children and use them for spare parts,” he said.

The legislation, which would have provided $7.3 billion for NIH, enjoyed widespread bipartisan support on Capitol Hill--including that of numerous congressmen and senators who consider themselves abortion opponents.

The bill also has drawn fierce support from women lawmakers from both parties because it provides money that has been earmarked for research into cancers specific to women, including $325 million for breast cancer and $75 million for research into ovarian and other reproductive cancers.

The bill also would set aside $72 million for research into prostate cancer and $20 million for a prostate cancer screening program.

Bill Clinton, the Democrats’ likely presidential nominee, called Bush’s refusal to sign the bill “politics--pure and simple . . . an ugly bow to the far right,” and urged Congress to override the veto.

Bush said his Administration is “strongly committed” to continuing research for disorders such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s but maintained that transplant research using fetal tissue “can proceed without relying on tissue from induced abortions.”

The controversial ban has been the subject of intense public debate since it was first imposed by the Reagan Administration in April, 1988.