Hadassah implores Bush on stem cell bill

Hadassah urged President Bush not to veto a U.S. Senate bill that
would fund embryonic stem cell research. Wednesday’s 63-34 vote fell
just shy of the two-thirds majority that would override
a veto. Bush said within hours of its passage
that he would reject the bill if it passes the full Congress. “We
congratulate the Senate on today’s vote and implore President Bush to
reconsider his opposition to this legislation and sign it into law,”
said Hadassah National President June Walker. “With such an enactment,
the possibility of federal funding would dramatically increase the
number of stem cell lines available for research and exponentially
increase the potential of finding cures and treatment for intractable
and debilitating diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and multiple
sclerosis. We consider President Bush’s support of this legislation a
moral imperative.” Many Jewish groups back embryonic stem
cell research. Bush supports
another bill passed by the Senate, the Hope Act, which encourages
producing stem cells without embryo creation or destruction.”I
strongly support this bill, and I encourage the Congress to pass it and
send it to me for my signature, so stem cell science can progress
without ethical and cultural conflict,” the president said.