President Bush this week vetoed S. 5, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007. This is only the third time during the 6 1\/2 years of his presidency that Bush has used his veto authority (one of the previous two times he vetoed a similar bill).<\/p>\n
In his letter to the Senate explaining his actions, President Bush said, “Once again, the Congress has sent me legislation that would compel American taxpayers, for the first time in our history, to support the deliberate destruction of human embryos.” The President also explained his veto to invited guests in the East Room of the White House on the day of the veto. To those gathered in the East Room, distinguished guests among them including science professors, medical doctors, and members of Congress, he said, “If this legislation became law, it would compel American taxpayers — for the first time in our history — to support the deliberate destruction of human embryos. I made it clear to Congress and to the American people that I will not allow our nation to cross this moral line.”<\/p>\n
While I applaud the President’s courage in vetoing this legislation when so many voices are calling for its implementation, and while I support the President’s uncompromising stand for life, the President’s moral line is a thin one.<\/p>\n
There is another bill pending before Congress that also asks the American people to cross a moral line. This bill, The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Commission Act of 2007 (H.R. 572, S. 9), has the full support of President Bush and many Republican members of Congress. Yet this bill, if allowed to become law, also asks the American people to cross a moral line by mocking the immigration laws already on the books and granting amnesty to as many as twenty million men and women who are currently residing, and many of them working, in the United States illegally.<\/p>\n
Laws do not create morality\u2014they are informed by our moral code and become the guardians of morality. If the President truly believes there is a moral line of demarcation which cannot under any circumstances be crossed, he must admit that line extends beyond the culture of life issues. This moral line informs all of our laws. This moral line is what makes us a nation of laws in the first place. Without this moral line, America would be ruled by anarchy, because there would be no basis upon which any of us should be compelled to obey the law.<\/p>\n
There is no arguing the fact that the United States needs comprehensive immigration reform. But by supporting this particular version of reform, President Bush is asking the American people to cross a moral line. He is asking us to excuse up to twenty million people who entered this country illegally, many of whom are working in this country illegally.<\/p>\n
If it is crossing the line to deliberately destroy human life in the hopes of saving human life, it is also crossing the line to excuse\u2014without real penalty\u2014those who have knowingly broken the law in the hopes that they will obey our laws in the future. Not only is such a policy morally ambiguous, it puts too much faith in fallen human nature. What results is a total disregard for the moral line that gives weight to our rule of law in the first place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Bush this week vetoed S. 5, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007. This is only the third time during the 6 1\/2 years of his presidency that Bush has used his veto authority (one of the previous … Continue reading