More hypocrisy from the Democrats

On December 20, 2001, the US Senate passed H.R.3061, titled "Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2002."

Information on this bill can be found here.

What is interesting is what is called Section 510 of this bill, which addresses the ethical definitions placed on federal funds for embryonic stem cell research. The pertinent text is here and states:


Sec. 510. (a) <> None of the funds made available in this Act may be used for-- (1) the creation of a human embryo or embryos for research purposes; or (2) research in which a human embryo or embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death greater than that allowed for research on fetuses in utero under 45 CFR 46.208(a)(2) and section 498(b) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 289g(b)).


(b) For purposes of this section, the term ``human embryo or embryos'' includes any organism, not protected as a human subject under 45 CFR 46 as of the date of the enactment of this Act, that is derived by fertilization, parthenogenesis, cloning, or any other means from one or more human gametes or human diploid cells.

Here is the recorded Senate vote for the Senate version of the bill.

The Senate offered an amendment which resulted in a House-Senate conference. After that conference, the House and Senate had to vote on the final version (from which the text above is derived.)


Here is the recorded vote for the final version (after conference).

Both John Kerry and John Edwards voted for passage of this bill, which clearly defines the ethics associated with research funding for embryonic stem cells. Now Kerry claims that instead of the President merely standing up for his principles based on sanctity of unborn life, that George W. Bush is being driven by "right-wing ideology." Kerry claims it is wrong for President Bush restrict this funding. But funding hasn't been restricted, only the ethics of the research that the US Government will fund have been defined.

I wonder if Kerry and Edwards are also wrong, since they voted for this law? And since the Catholic Church supports this ethical definition and Kerry professes to be a Catholic, is Kerry calling the Catholics "right wing?"

The simple answer of course is that Kerry and Edwards are hypocrites and are using this issue as another attempt to drive wedges into the American populace.