"Pro-Life" Illogic Alert

In justifying the very first veto of his term, which appropriately enough was pretty much the only decent piece of legislation to be passed by Congress since he took office, Bush claimed that embryo-Americans are “[t]hese boys and girls are not spare parts.” This line has been picked up by his dead-ender supporters:

Undoubtedly, we will hear plenty from critics that Bush has endangered the health of Americans through his veto, a conclusion bordering on the absurd. Putting aside the fact that we shouldn’t grind up humans to save other humans, this veto doesn’t ban any kind of research at all. It just makes human embryonic stem-cell (hESC) research ineligible for federal funding.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, Captain. Here’s a question: if stem cell research involves “grinding up humans to save other humans,” why the hell aren’t we banning it? Do Bush and his supporters believe that murder should be legal, but not state-funded? Would this be an acceptable compromise? Leaving aside the obvious point that given the way stem-cell research actually works the ban on federal funding is a serious impediment, Bush’s position is ludicrously incoherent and indefensible. If stem-cell research is murder, merely withdrawing state funding is hardly adequate. But, of course, almost nobody thinks (or is willing to act in a way even minimally consistent with the idea) that a cluster of 150 cells is a “boy or girl”, just like very few people really believe that a fetus is like a child. The position advanced by Bush and his apologists is self-refuting nonsense, and the veto is a disgrace in an administration that is pretty much an endless procession of them.

…John Cole provides a handy list of the Senators who voted against the legislation, which was denied a veto-proof majority.