Stem cell bill gets Republican champion (Charlie Dent, PA)

The Hill ^ | 6/29/11

[markomalley]

Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Charlie Dent is taking the place of defeated Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) as the lead co-sponsor of embryonic stem cell legislation, offering key Republican support for a controversial bill reviled by many social conservatives.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), would give legislative backing to President Obama’s 2009 executive order allowing federal funding for medical research using discarded embryos from fertility clinics.

A federal appeals court upheld the order earlier this year, but the bill’s proponents say a pending legal challenge — and the possibility of a future president overturning the order — are having a chilling effect on new research. The Department of Justice last week asked a U.S. district judge to end the lawsuit.

The bill’s critics object on religious and moral grounds, arguing that the research destroys viable embryos to harvest the stem cells.

(snip)

Dent was among a handful of Republican co-sponsors in the last Congress, along with Reps. Fred Upton (Mich.), Mary Bono Mack (Calif.) and Thaddeus McCotter (Mich.). McCotter withdrew his sponsorship after five days.

Dent has voted for the legislation in the past, and comes from a district that leans Democratic.

[oust the louse]

Gee go figure....Dems find another republican tool to carry their water.

“Dent has voted for the legislation in the past, and comes from a district that leans Democratic.”

[frogjerk]

discarded embryos

aka Human garbage.

Sick.

[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

Why did McCotter ever even have his name listed in the first place?

This ought to give the incipient McCotter supporters here on FR pause about whether they really want this guy jumping into the race. The more I see of McCotter, the more the term “liberaltarian RINO” comes to mind.