Congress and President Bush Refuse to Allow Tax Dollars to Fund the Destruction of Human Life
Congress and President Bush Refuse to Allow Tax Dollars to Fund the Destruction of Human Life
Congressman Franks Votes to Sustain President's Veto of H.R. 810
July 21, 2006Congressman Trent Franks (AZ-02) is one of 193 Members in the U.S. House of Representatives this week who sustained the President's veto of H.R. 810, preventing American tax dollars from funding embryonic stem cell research.
"If Americans deny the reality that human life begins at a definitive point in time, conception, we wade into perilous waters that warn us of a nightmarish future filled with the unthinkable, such as human cloning, fetal farming, and abortion on demand. To deny the maxim that life begins at conception is to promise the desecration of human dignity," remarked Congressman Franks.
H.R. 810 would have provided federal funds for experimenting on what the scientific and medical communities have already proven to be genetically distinct and biologically alive human embryos. As Doctor-Lawyer Kelly Hollowell reminded listeners at a Heritage Foundation lecture last year, "The United States Congress received the answer that life begins at conception most definitively in 1981. At hearings on the Human Life Bill (S. 158), held by the Senate Judiciary Committee's Separation of Powers Subcommittee, internationally renowned scientists Dr. Micheline Mathews-Roth (Harvard Medical School), Dr. Jerome Lejeune (the father of modern genetics), Dr. Hymie Gordon (chairman of the Mayo Clinic), and Dr. Landrum Shettles (the father of IVF) all testified that life begins at conception. This, as far as the medical and scientific community is concerned, is not an issue. The debate is in the legal and political realms."
Congressman Franks lauds the scientific community for successfully discovering therapies, by using adult stem cells, to treat thousands of human patients who were suffering from over seventy-two different diseases. Adult stem cells have helped treat, for example, Parkinson's disease and diabetes in children.
Rep. Franks said, "I commend the pioneers in science and medicine who offer hope to Americans with disabilities. May we all remember that the noblest pursuit of science and human genius is to protect and preserve the quality and dignity of human life. With the defeat of H.R. 810 we can now focus our energy upon that pursuit through the far more effective adult stem cell research, which does not compromise the sanctity of human life."
http://www.house.gov/list/press/az02_franks/embryonicstemcell.html