Washington – President Bush today said he would veto legislation that would loosen restrictions on embryonic stem cell research and expressed deep concern about human cloning research in South Korea.
“I’m very concerned about cloning,” the president said. “I worry about a world in which cloning becomes accepted.”
White House deputy press secretary Trent Duffy said the work in South Korea amounted to human cloning for the sole purpose of scientific research.
“The president is opposed to that,” Duffy said. “That represents exactly what we’re opposed to.”
South Korean researchers, funded by their government, reported producing human embryos through cloning and then extracting their stem cells. It is a major advancement in the quest to grow patients’ own replacement tissue to treat diseases.
The president also threatened a veto of legislation that would clear the way for taxpayer money to be spent on embryonic stem cell research.
A measure by Reps. Mike Castle, R-Del., and Diana DeGette, D-Colo., would lift Bush’s 2001 ban on the use of federal dollars for research using any new embryonic stem cell lines.
“I made very clear to Congress that the use of federal money, taxpayer’s money, to promote science which destroys life in order to save life – I’m against that,” Bush said. “Therefore, if the bill does that, I would veto it.”
Bush, in his fifth year in office, has not yet exercised his first veto. The White House also promised a veto this week of a highway bill if it exceeded the administration’s spending limits.
