I come from an older generation than the president, but my memory for some things is still dependable. One thing I remember about adolescence was the growing interest in things sexual, as nature knocked us together, a common phrase at the time. My experience as a physically maturing adolescent male was quite similar to the experience of others at the time, and similar, I'm sure, to those between that day and this. I know that I washed millions of potential babies off my hands, my shorts and my sheets. I find it impossible to believe that our current president did not experience something similar. What was discarded so casually amounted to half the ingredients that make up an embryo, the subject of so much concern at the moment. Nature has provided ways to eliminate overloads on the seminal vesicle, and a method for disposing of unfertilized eggs. But, have wet dreams and tampons instilled in us the need for funeral services? Do we make a big deal out of discarded surplus embryos formed in petri dishes and stored in fertility clinics?

The president, of course, was well past his adolescent years when he experienced the transforming religious experience that has informed his decision-making. I think it is safe to say, however, that he had that religious experience and its associated commitments by the time he became governor of Texas. In that role he presided over the closest thing to a production line execution system ever known in these United States. In fact, he boasted of it during a debate with Al Gore. He had no trouble denying requests for clemency from death row. He mimicked, in a sharp little voice, a women asking for mercy while he told of his role in the process. He obviously does not see the culture of life as being contradicted when he says no to the many among us with debilitating injuries or illnesses, denying them the possibility of a quality life and a cure for the incurable.

His political record belies his commitment to life. Vetoing the bill to fund embryonic stem cell research did nothing to save the unwanted embryos. They will simply be discarded, and whatever life they contain will be gone. He surrounded himself with a few of the 128 babies who were grown from "adopted" embryos, but failed to make mention of the almost 400,000 that were not adopted.

We may picture the baby as being formed when the embryo is introduced into the welcoming womb of an adoptive mother, but do we picture the brain, heart, lungs, stomach, liver, spleen, intestines, or any of the other organs formed from stem cells in a frozen embryo? Are they not just as important to the culture of life as the personality of the baby in the mother's arms? When embryonic stem cells grow into muscle, spinal bone, brain or nerve tissue to replace that damaged by injury or illness, they become just as much a part of the culture of life as babies born from them.

It was good to see that some of the Republican lawmakers have themselves grown backbones, and are now showing a willingness to think for themselves. The upcoming election may have something to do with this sudden spurt of growth and I'm sure the veto was as much political in nature as it was religious. The legislators apparently have a different assessment of their base than does the president. I could understand him playing to his base if he planned to run for office at some time in the future, but he's already a lame duck with no place to go. At this point he could get away with thinking for himself, even if Dick Cheney didn't like it.

His disastrous war in Iraq has added many to the Army of the Needy, those with debilitating injuries or illnesses whose best hope for a decent life is the proper use and research of embryonic stem cells. With the current veto, he may feel like he's washed some blood off his hands—he's only added more. What the president needs is to get a life.

Posted by Wes Randolph   |   Sunday, July 23, 2006