For the second time in less than a year, US President Bush has vetoed a bill that would have lifted a ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.

Bush announced his veto last Wednesday saying, “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.”

Whether he likes it or not, that already happens on a regular basis.

A 2004 study by the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Bioethics found that nearly all in vitro fertilization clinics harvest more embryos than they’ll need and about 80% of the clinics dispose of unwanted embryos—most by simply dumping the extras in the biological waste bin.

It’s too bad decisions about what happens to an embryo are being made by the government and not by the women and men who are most connected—both emotionally and genetically—to those embryos. According to a survey released in last week’s Science, 60% of couples who have embryos stored at fertility clinics said they would willingly donate them for stem cell research. A Gallup poll conducted in mid May also found that 64% of Americans think embryonic stem cell research is morally acceptable.

Whether these taxpayers are funding stem cell research or not, they’ve already made it clear that they’re ready to cross Bush’s moral line. Listening, President Bush?

Posted on behalf of Cassandra Willyard, news intern for Nature Medicine