With the Senate expected to vote on H.R. 810 — the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act — and with Bush’s threat of a veto (his first ever in 6 years), it’s important to know some background and falsehoods behind Bush’s recent statement:

FACT: GOV’T STEM CELL LINES UNUSABLE: Bush originally justified his position by claiming there were “more than 60” stem cell lines for researchers to work with; now we know that “many if not all of the…lines are now contaminated and unusable” because they were developed using mouse cells.

FACT: PROPOSED ETHICS GUIDELINES STRICTER THAN BUSH’S: The White House statement says that H.R. 810 “advances the proposition that the Nation must choose between science and ethics.” But H.R. 810 actually advances ethical guidelines on stem cell research “tighter than those under the President’s policy, specifically when it comes to requiring the individuals seeking fertility treatment to provide written informed consent when donating their surplus embryos.”

FACT: NO ‘LIFE OR DEATH’ DECISION INVOLVED: Today’s statement claims H.R. 810 “would use Federal taxpayer dollars to support and encourage the destruction of human life for research.” This is wrong on two counts. One, there is already a federal ban on funding for the destruction of human embryos, and H.R. 810 maintains this ban. Two, the embryos funded by H.R. 810 were “created for the purposes of in vitro fertilization…which are spare or in excess of clinical need and in every single case are slated for medical waste.” In other words, the “life and death” decision has already been made — “the donors have decided to discard these embryos and they will be discarded.”

Via Think Progress.

For a good primer and FAQ on the whole issue, start here.

UPDATE:  Conservative K-Lo at The Corner quotes Mike Spence’s objections to stem cell research:

The proponents of this legislation don’t just want to be able to do embryonic research. They want me to pay for it and like 43 percent of the American people in a survey out today, I have a problem with that.

Well, tough titty.  I have a problem with my tax dollars going to pay for certain wars.  EVERYONE has that beef about one government program or another.