Zeroing in on Bush’s first veto

Re “Stem Cell Bill Vetoed; Override Effort Fails,” July 20

So we must not support stem cell research because doing so would destroy embryos. However, once those embryos become human beings, it is not necessary to provide healthcare, adequate education nor protection against handgun violence. And as far as killing people, well, that’s OK too, as long as it is couched in terms of “the death penalty” or “making America secure.” Will someone please explain the rationale of these stances taken by the Bush administration?

CAROL MARSHALL

Anaheim

*

The main moral objection to embryonic stem cell research is destroying living human beings. Granted, at roughly five days after conception, these humans are undeveloped, but they are no less human. At this point, their DNA code, gender and blood type have already been determined. Also, the argument that “they are going to be thrown away anyway” is tantamount to justifying the killing of humans for scientific research. There is a big difference between someone dying of natural causes (even a days-old embryo) and someone being killed for scientific gain.

Consider this: Once cures for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, etc. are found, wouldn’t we rather they come from a morally acceptable source, such as adult stem cells, than a morally objectionable source like human embryos?

NOEL D’ANGELO

Thousand Oaks

*

Try as I might, I can’t understand the logic of saving embryonic stem cells from being used to save lives so they can be destroyed anyway. So what is saved? Certainly not my wife with advanced multiple sclerosis who is confined to her wheelchair, her TV and her pain. Is her life worth less than that of an unborn, undifferentiated blastocyst that is in any event doomed? Is that really what it means to be “pro-life”?

IVAN DRYER

Northridge

*

Regarding President Bush’s veto of the stem cell research legislation, I wonder if he feels that the loss of more than 50,000 Iraqi lives because of a needless war that he initiated also “crosses a moral boundary.”

BRUCE JUNGK

Laguna Niguel