I was watching a television special about the re-opening of the National Portrait Gallery, part of the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, when I saw a striking portrait of the late actor, Christopher Reeve.
Sacha Newley, the artist, shows a dynamic picture of Reeve in his wheelchair from a powerful low angle, making it clear that this is a man who is not removing himself from life but moving forward into the fray.
Reeve and his wife, Dana (who, unfortunately, died from cancer recently) set up a foundation which has focused on stem cell research as a way to rebuild the kind of nerve damage that left him a quadriplegic. Much of the major recognition of the scientific advances in stem cell research happened because of the Reeves. As such, he was an American hero.
Take, now, George W. Bush who has pledged to veto the bill passed by the House and now being debated in the Senate (where it will also pass) to put Federal funding into stem cell research. The reason? Because the "Pro Life" movement thinks using stem cells is destroying a life. They have equated stem cell harvesting with abortion, which could not be farther from the truth.
"We are running out of time. America is running out of time. We need this medical research, and we need it now. There are no good excuses left," said Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, who has declared July to be stem cell month in the Senate.
But will the religious right get to step on this needed funding again? Certainly, Bush, who has not yet issued a veto on anything, is under their thumb on this one - you can't really put a signing statement on this legislation.
When the veto happens, the odds are pretty good that it can be overturned by a 60% vote. Medical science needs to advance and this is a worthwhile direction to head in.
"President Bush has made the wrong choice, putting politics ahead of safe, responsible science," Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said in a statement. Added Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.): "The president's threat to veto legislation on bipartisan stem cell research demonstrates how out of touch he is with the priorities of the American people."
So, when I think of Bush vetoing this needed legislation, I think of Reeve, who it will be too late for, but who realized the potential. I think of Nancy Reagan, who knows that this research could have been used to prevent the Alzheimers that killed her husband, and I think of my own friends and family who would have benefited from stem cell research in the past and could benefit from it in the future.
And I think about separating church and state. What a good idea.
Under The LobsterScope