House Fails to Override Presidential Veto of Bill
to Widen Scope of Stem Cell Research

July 20, 2006 — The House of Representatives failed to override a presidential veto of a bill (H.R. 810) that would have expanded the number of embryonic stem cell lines available for federally funded research.

President Bush's veto of the bill, also on July 19, was the first veto of his administration. The House vote to override the veto failed by a margin of 235-193, less than the two-thirds majority necessary.

The veto came one day after the Senate passed H.R. 810 by a vote of 63-37 and more than a year after the bill passed the House, in a vote of 238-194. Since the bill originated in the House, its failure to override with a two-thirds majority upholds the veto.

ASH supported H.R. 810 from its development and passage in the House, to assuring a vote in the Senate, to passage in the Senate. The bill sets aside no public funds for the destruction of embryos (which is already prohibited under law), but merely allows embryos that would already be discarded to be used for research while setting federally guided ethical guidelines.

Rep. Michael Castle (R-Del.), author of the H.R. 810, said he planned to introduce stem cell legislation next year, and said that he was encouraged by the education process the stem cell debate has generated. House and Senate supporters of stem cell research such as Dianna DeGette (D-CO), Nancy Johnson (R-CT), Judy Biggert (R-IL), Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Arlen Specter (R-PA), Tom Harkin (D-IA) echoed their interest in pursuing this legislation in the future.

The vetoed bill would have undone restrictions Bush imposed on stem cell research in August 2001. At a press conference Representative Castle reported that White House policy advisers rejected a number of compromises he offered, including moving the date the stem cell lines had to be derived by from 2001 to 2006, only allowing research on the current frozen embryos slated for destruction (not any that are created in future years), and working to create a stricter informed-consent process for couples donating embryos to research.

Also on July 19, President Bush signed into law a bill (S. 3504) that would prohibit "fetus farming" or intentionally inducing a pregnancy to create tissue for research. The Senate and House unanimously passed the bill July 18. The President said he also hoped to sign another bill (S. 2754) that would require the National Institutes of Health to study ways of developing stem cells with the same qualities as embryonic ones but without destroying an embryo. The Senate passed S. 2754 unanimously, but a House motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill failed to garner the two-thirds vote necessary to pass on July 18. While ASH supported H.R. 810, the Society did not take a position on these other two bills because they would not change or enhance research.