White House Weighs in on Stem Cells

With the House prepared to vote on two stem cell bills sometime today, the White House released two statements this morning, one in favor of the Smith-Davis adult stem cell research bill and another in opposition to the Castle-DeGette legislation. Of the latter, the administration says it "would require Federal taxpayer dollars to be used to encourage the ongoing destruction of nascent human life." Apparently they really do believe that embryos can be put to better use in the wastebaskets of fertility clinics. The administration has now pulled out all the stops: the statement says outright "If H.R. 810 were presented to the President, he would veto the bill."

This is most unfortunate, and puts pressure on more House Republicans to vote against Castle-DeGette later today. It's going to be a very close vote this afternoon in the House, so stay tuned.