Senate approves embryonic stem cell funding

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"With this important vote in favor of embryonic stem cell research (H.R. 810), the pleas of so many suffering families have finally been heard," she said. "Time is short, and life is precious, and I hope this promising research can now move forward."

The White House and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist worked for what they considered the next closest thing: stem cell-related bills Bush could sign.

Enactment of the bill to encourage research on adult stem cells enables Bush and other opponents of embryonic stem cell studies to say they, nonetheless, support stem cell science.

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"The president is not opposed to stem cell research, he's all for it," Snow said.

Embryonic stem cells are essentially master cells, able to morph into all the cell types found in the body. If scientists could learn to control these cells and coax them into becoming specific types on demand, they could grow replacements for damaged tissue. The idea is to use this process — still theoretical — to cure or treat a raft of diseases and injuries, from diabetes to Alzheimer's and spinal cord damage.

Opponents of federal funding for embryonic stem cell research say studies on cells derived from adults and umbilical cords is more advanced, less controversial and more deserving of federal funding.

How fast the science for both types of stem cell research proceeds depends on how much money the federal government is willing to spend, and for which kind. Supporters of the embryonic stem cell bill say the engine of public funding would greatly accelerate cures and treatments.

Veto override unlikely
The House last year fell 50 votes short of a veto-proof margin when it passed the same embryonic stem cell bill, 238-194. Fifty Republicans voted for the bill, in defiance of Bush and many of their party leaders.

Republican leaders in the House planned an override vote as early as Wednesday evening, confident that Bush's veto of the embryonic stem cell bill would be sustained.

Actress Mary Tyler Moore appeared with Frist during the day, saying she was very disappointed by Bush's stance.

"This is an intelligent human being with a heart, and I don't see how much longer he can deny those aspects of himself," she said.

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