Bush uses first-ever veto

2006-07-19 22:06

Washington - US President George W Bush used his veto on Wednesday for the first time since taking office, blocking a popular bill that would have expanded federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research.

"It crosses a moral boundary that our decent society needs to respect, so I vetoed it," Bush said at the White House.

The president had vowed for a long time to veto the bill because of his deeply held moral beliefs that destroying human life was wrong - even in its earliest form, and even in the interest of research that could lead to potentially life-saving medical breakthroughs.

- AFP