Pro-life groups switch strategy, hoping to secure veto on stem cells
By Jeffrey Young
THE HILL
June 30, 2005
Several leading conservative advocacy groups are revising their
strategy on embryonic-stem-cell research by backing an up-or-down
vote on a bill to expand federal funding in a shift that could force
President Bush to issue his first veto.Pro-life conservative groups have brought considerable pressure to bear on Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) to scuttle legislation that would lift restrictions on federal spending on the research that Bush put in place in 2001. But some groups have decided to test Bush's vow to veto the bill and lifted their opposition to allowing the legislation to reach the Senate floor — where it is expected to pass with a significant majority.Bush and other administration officials have repeatedly said that any additional permission for funding of embryonic-stem-cell research passed by Congress would find a veto waiting on the president's desk. Bush has avoided vetoing any legislation since taking office — a fact widely credited to the White House's ability to coordinate its agenda with the Republican leadership in Congress.But broad, bipartisan support for stem-cell research in the Congress and the public — as opinion polls suggest — may have made it impossible for Frist to protect the president from issuing the first veto of his tenure.Frist is in the midst of negotiations with the bill's supporters and appears to be close to reaching a deal that would bring the measure to the floor in July under a unanimous-consent agreement barring amendments.But Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), a physician who is pro-life and staunchly opposes allowing additional funding of embryonic-stem-cell research, is threatening to filibuster it, among other things.
"He is considering offering several amendments …
an old-
fashioned filibuster," his spokesman John Hart said. Coburn might
read aloud on the Senate floor "thousands" of accounts of people
treated with therapies derived from adult stem-cell research, which
he maintains has been proved effective without venturing into
ethically touchy areas.Supporters of additional funding for embryonic-stem-cell research say they have the votes to overcome any threat of a filibuster. They are promoting the bill that passed the House last month by a vote of 238-194.Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.), who backs the measure, said he expects that talks led by Frist and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) could be resolved by the end of the week. With or without unanimous consent, Smith said, Frist promised him a vote before the August recess. Other measures that would promote less controversial research on adult stem cells or umbilical-cord-blood cells would be considered separately under the terms of the agreement being sought by the bipartisan coalition backing the bill.
Jessica Echard, executive director of Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle
Forum, said, "We would want a stand-alone vote" on the embryonic-
stem-cell bill alongside legislation promoting adult-stem-cell
research and research into umbilical-cord-blood cells. "It doesn't
make us look like we're running away from the issue," Echard said.
"Having the debate is good for the American people," she added,
contending that Senate consideration of competing measures
would "highlight the successes" of adult-stem-cell research. Echard
emphasized that other conservative groups do not share Eagle Forum's
point of view.Concerned Women for America's director of government relations, Lanier Swann, said her organization has taken the same position, in part, because it would be the most expedient way to dispatch with the embryonic-stem-cell bill."We believe, based on our experience with this vote in the House, that the better option is for leadership to place it on the floor as a stand-alone piece of legislation. We're ready for the vote, and ready for it to hit the president's desk for a final veto so we can move on to more pressing legislation," she said.Although Focus on the Family has not staked out a position on how Frist should proceed, spokesperson Carrie Gordon Earll said that the embryonic-stem-cell bill should be debated on its merits.At a press conference yesterday, Smith joined Sens. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) to announce a grassroots effort led by the American Juvenile Diabetes Research
Foundation, the American Diabetes Association and the Coalition for
the Advancement of Medical Research to promote the legislation
across the country during the July 4 recess. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-
Pa.), a leading voice for embryonic-stem-cell research, was not
present.Harkin and Smith said they were confident the bill would receive more than the 60 votes needed to prevent a filibuster. Harkin also said the support would be strong enough to defeat any amendments
that might be allowed if Frist does not engineer a unanimous-consent
agreement. Most senators have declared their stance one way or the
other. Smith declined to name those who could be brought onboard.
Harkin noted fellow Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican, has not
declared a position.Members of the bipartisan group of senators said they have not given up on getting Bush to sign the bill.
"The big challenge will come to get the signature of the president
of the United States," Feinstein said. Harkin, Smith and others
predicted that a convincing Senate vote, combined with what they
described as strong public support, could persuade Bush to
reconsider his position."Hopefully, the president will see the great groundswell around the country for this," Harkin said. He declined to say whether the Senate could override a veto. "I don't event like to discuss these kinds of things," he said.Harkin said there are two or three measures that could be floated as amendments. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), a pro-life conservative considered to be a 2008 presidential hopeful, has been careful not to threaten a filibuster.
Brownback's bill to prohibit human cloning is considered one
possible measure that could be offered as an amendment to the stem-
cell measure. The ban would apply to reproductive cloning and so-
called therapeutic cloning, which is used in some embryonic-stem-
cell research. A spokesman said, however, that Brownback is instead
considering employing "procedural measures" to stall the embryonic
stem-cell bill.
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