Senate Votes to Kill Embryos

In a vote that was not unexpected, the Senate voted 63-34 in favor of Senator Harkin's bill, S.5. The bill would mandate that federal funds be used for stem cell research that requires the destruction of human embryos.

President Bush promises a veto and the final tally was short of the 2/3rds needed for an override of a presidential veto. However, it moves us one step (or one election) closer to taxpayer funds being used to destroy vulnerable human beings.

They may literally be a "clump of cells" but human embryos require only time, nourishment and a safe place to grow until they develop into the newborns we ooh and ah over. All of the genetic material that makes each of us unique is present at the moment of fertilization.

And should you think that this type of legislation is the pinnacle achievement, think again. Many advocates of this research assert that this is only the beginning. Cloning and stem cells culled from older embryos and fetuses are next on the list.