Imagine, you are a victim of Parkinson’s Disease, or advanced diabetes, facing possible death or debilitating restrictions for the rest of your life. You’re watching CNN as the president of the United States announces a decision to veto any bill before Congress that will lift limits on government spending for embryonic stem cell research. That’s research that will likely find a cure for your disease, or for those who may inherit your genes. The president says that saving the life of a cell mass we call an embryo is more important.

Once again, the common good of mankind takes a back seat to fundamentalist arm-twisting and political pandering.

The latest battle in Washington over the issue of providing federal funds for such research is nothing more than a power struggle over ideology, and the losers will be those who need it the most; the victims of disease.

It boggles the mind that we have the science and technology at our fingertips today to find possible treatments and even cures for these horrible diseases, but the funds needed are bogged down by a president and his followers who owe their political derriers to a voting block.

In defiance of a presidential veto, a Republican controlled House of Representatives recently voted 238-194 to lift restrictions on appropriating desperately needed federal funds for embryonic stem cell research. Among them, 50 of the president’s own party.

And it appears that the Senate will be equally lopsided. Even some of the most avid supporters of pro-life have seen the light and bolted from the herd to follow their conscience instead of sucking up for the next election.

“I had a perfect pro-life record,” said Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo.,. “Who can say prolonging life is not pro-life?” Ms. Emerson’s mother-in-law had just died from an illness that might be treated with stem cell therapy in the future.

It’s one of those things about which the moralists love to pontificate from a pious perch until the tragedy strikes home. No one knows better than Nancy Reagan and the family of former President Ronald Reagan, who bitterly oppose President Bush on this issue.

How amazing it is that a president who has not exercised one single veto in five years in office, not even on the most liberal spending bills that Congress has sent to his desk, threatens veto to limit spending on research that will aid the seriously infirm and save future lives.

Pro-lifers and religious fanatics who flex their muscles and intimidate politicians, would have us believe that funding such research is tantamount to funding murder. They say these embryos are disposed of for the distinct purpose of research. And that it involved the killing of fetuses in order to advance science. Nothing could be further from the truth. It’s a lie designed to prey on the conscience of naive Americans. It’s a lie designed to maintain power over politicians who haven’t the backbone to vote their conscience.

The vast majority of stem cells used in research come from discarded or excess embryos stored at in-vitro fertilization clinics. Often, for one reason or another, prospective parents change their minds and decide against going through with the procedure. Those embryos are then routinely scheduled for destruction. They are going to be destroyed anyway. Approximately 8,000 embryos are discarded as hospital waste every year.

Why waste? Why not put them to productive use that will eventually help to improve and sustain life? It is inconceivable that any feeling person would object to something so wonderful.

Yes, in some case, a parent will be asked permission to donate an embryo that comes from an abortion. This is only when the procedure is legal and the embryo destined for destruction. Why not offer these stem cells for the greater cause of creating medical miracles?

The argument that the procedure destroys life for the purpose of advancing science is pure political rhetoric and a product of religious fanaticism. People with advanced Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s, or diabetes already exist on planet Earth, and look forward to 20 years, 40 years, or a lifetime of suffering. These are living, breathing human beings who have full awareness, who have loved and been loved, who are productive and talented citizens in need of relief from the misery attached to their diseases, not to mention the families who must help care for them.

Compare that to an embryo that has never breathed life, had a conscious moment, nor ever formed into a being beyond the assembly of living cells.

I’ll vote in behalf of the present and future sufferers. If the technology is out there, it’s needed now.

I do not believe, in his heart, that President Bush really wants to veto such a bill. He knows the consequences. He understands the priorities. He knows how much those federal funds are needed by millions of victims. But he also knows where his political bread has been buttered, and that takes precedence.

I wonder, just wonder, which way the president would lean if one of his daughters, or even the first lady, were afflicted. I think I know. And you do too.

(Marshall Frank is a novelist and a retired Metro Dade homicide detective. His latest book is Call Me Mommy. He can be reached at mlf283@aol.com.)