Why Not Just Knock the Crutches Out From Under Jerry's Kids?

So finally, five and a half years in, President Bush gets out his veto pen, and for what purpose does he take this unprecedented action? He vetoed the stem cell bill that passed overwhelmingly in the house and senate, and that approximately 70% of the American people approve of, and crushed hope for a host of patients suffering from diseases and injuries for which no current treatment even exists.

I have seen human suffering. I have seen slow painful death from ALS and other neuro-motor disorders. I have cared for children confined to wheelchairs and trapped in their own bodies who might be helped by this research, and there is certainly no other help on the horizon.

As a scientist I am appalled at the votes of my sentaors and the veto of the president - but I am not surprised. As far as I know, President Bush took exactly one science class as an undergraduate - Astronomy - and he got a "D." Pardon me if I don't defer to his superior scientific understanding and moral superiority - I have only been a working scientist for two decades, and now I'm gainfully unemployed as a graduate student in Neurosciences.

I have a nephew, Sam, who is insulin dependent, and has been since the age of six months. His diabetes is severe, and he is frequently hospitalized. His kidney function is steadily declining and he will need dialysis by the time he isfifteen and eventually a transplant. My sister is a Masters level health care professional and my brother-in-law is a banker, and they are powerless to help their son with the current treatments available to a child with diabetes of his severity. This research is his best hope at an eventual healthy adulthood.

And the thing that really sickens me - as an aunt, as a health-care provider, and as a scientist and academic researcher is that the stem cells that were addressed in the vetoed legislation will be discarded, incinerated, tossed as medical waste like a used syringe.

32 cells does not a human make. I'm sorry, but it doesn't. The map is there, but that is not the journey.