Selectric, the reason for that is that Bush spoke in broadly "philosophically" favorable terms while wending his way toward a narrow definition, & though not banning the research, not supporting it with federal funding either. Thus it depends on your political affiliation as a reporter, as to how you would interpret such a decision. He was in a tough spot politically; and the fact is, the research will go on in other countries anyway. The NY Times reporting gives a sense of the doublespeak of the decision:
Although Mr. Bush did not ban federal financing, which many social conservatives urged him to do, he drew extremely narrow parameters around what the government would pay for, stopping well short of what many scientists strongly recommended.
Those parameters arguably kept him from breaking a campaign pledge not to finance the destruction of what he called live embryos, and meant that no federal money — at least not yet — would be used for that purpose. For many social conservatives, that was the line Mr. Bush had to draw.
But by drawing it, he may have tied scientists' hands and certainly instituted restrictions more severe than President Bill Clinton would have. Several of his advisers and allies fanned out onto the airwaves to blunt that reality, talking insistently about how much research would flourish.
And Mr. Bush did a bit of oratorical triangulation, using the language of people who advocate much broader federal support as he wended his way to his relatively narrow decision. His destination was opaque until the end.
At one point, he talked of the "frozen embryos" in fertility clinics and said, "If they're going to be destroyed anyway, shouldn't they be used for a greater good?" But Mr. Bush did not ultimately permit federal financing of that.
He also seemed to leave himself future wiggle room, several political analysts noted. They wondered if his comment about "frozen embryos" laid the groundwork for him to support any possible Congressional authorization of their destruction down the line.
And they noted that while Mr. Bush mused about whether an embryo is a human life, reviewing the different arguments, he did not take a clear position. His speech was like a Rorschach, subject to various interpretations.
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Personally, considering his disastrous political decisions thus far, and his need to move more toward the center of his party, I'm encouraged. It leaves room for future funding. Nonetheless scientists could be both relieved & disappointed by the decision. |
