Bush exercises his first veto on stem cell bill

The "veto bubble" has finally burst. Five-and-a-half years into his presidency, George W. Bush has ended his record stretch of bill-signings as he rejected legislation Wednesday that would expand federal funding of human embryonic stem-cell research.

Attempts in Congress to override the veto, which would require a two-thirds vote, were expected to fail.

According to the Christian Science Monitor, analysts agree that President Bush's veto was risky but unavoidable. Since the issue of stem-cell research arose early in his presidency, when Mr. Bush approved federal funding of preexisting stem-cell lines, he has remained adamant that no federal monies be used on newer cell colonies. The president believes the killing of human embryos, from which stem cells are harvested, is murder, says press secretary Tony Snow.

But an editorial from the Washington Post this morning poses an interesting argument: "We understand that people can in good faith disagree on this question. But we don't understand the logic of Mr. Bush's position. If using discarded embryos to extract stem cells is murder, how can he permit it to proceed with private funding?" (or IVF research to continue for that matter?)