The House voted overwhelmingly Thursday to broaden federal support for embryonic stem cell research, stepping up a confrontation with President Bush over a thorny scientific and ethical issue that Democrats hope to capitalize on in the next election.
The vote, 253 to 174, was not enough to overturn a likely presidential veto of the measure, which would authorize federal support for research using stem cells derived from excess embryos that fertility clinics would otherwise discard.
Apparently, Congress believes that if the feds don’t fund it, such research wouldn’t or couldn’t be done. But, it’s never compassionate to spend other people’s money for political benefit. Federal funding of medical research guarantees the politicization of decisions about what types of research for what diseases will be funded.
As with most government programs, there is nothing, whatsoever, in the US Constitution that allows the federal government to expropriate tax funds from the population for scientific research programs such as stem cell research.
But, the Constitution is not just a good idea, it’s the law…
The powers granted to Congress are for the most part enumerated in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution. To clarify that Congress is limited only to powers expressly granted to it in the Constitution, the Tenth Amendment was written.
And one of the many powers that were not delegated to the United States federal government was scientific research. Take a challenge and try to find an authorization for scientific research in the Constitution. (here’s a hint, you’ll never find it)
Therefore, to be for federally-funded stem cell research is to be against the Bill of Rights.
The greatest casualty of centralized government decision-making is personal liberty.