"The simple answer is he thinks murder's wrong," said White House spokesman Tony Snow. "The president is not going to get on the slippery slope of taking something living and making it dead for the purposes of scientific research."
Bush's political agenda on the matter is clear. He said the following during his veto announcement, which definitely plays to many in his religious and pro-life base who have been complaining for months that their issues are being neglected.
"We are all endowed by our creator with a right to life."
His announcement was peppered with references to "ethics" and "morals". I'm still waiting for someone in the right-to life-community to demand an end to the disposal of unwanted embryos created via in vitro fertilization. They seem to be strangely silent on that issue.
Bush's decision to veto this legislation does not reflect the majority of Americans opinions on the issue. Obviously, since the bill passed, he has also set himself at odds with many Republicans and does not have 100% support within the pro-life community either.
It remains to be seen if there will be enough votes in congress to override the veto. The issue will be taken up later today.
Bush signed a related measure passed last night prohibiting implantation of embryos in a womb for the purpose of extracting cells, legislation pushed by opponents of stem cell research.
Update: The attempt to override Bush's veto in congress failed: '...the House voted 235-193 to overturn Bush's veto, 51 short of the required two-thirds majority.'
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