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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush used his veto power Wednesday for the first time since taking office 5 1/2 years ago, saying that an embryonic stem-cell research bill "crossed a moral boundary."
The bill, which the Senate passed Tuesday, 63-37, would have loosened the restrictions on federal funding for stem-cell research.
House Republican leaders tried Wednesday evening to override the veto, but that vote was 235 to 193, short of the necessary two-thirds majority.
"This bill would support the taking of innocent human life in the hope of finding medical benefits for others," Bush said Wednesday afternoon. "It crosses a moral boundary that our decent society needs to respect. So I vetoed it." (Watch as Bush says the bill 'crosses a moral boundary' -- 2:04)
Attending the White House event were a group of families with children who were born from "adopted" frozen embryos that had been left unused at fertility clinics.
"These boys and girls are not spare parts," he said of the children in the audience. "They remind us of what is lost when embryos are destroyed in the name of research. They remind us that we all begin our lives as a small collection of cells."
The measure, which the House of Representatives passed in May 2005, allows couples who have had embryos frozen for fertility treatments to donate them to researchers rather than let them be destroyed.
Bush said, "If this bill were to become law, American taxpayers would, for the first time in our history, be compelled to fund the deliberate destruction of human embryos, and I'm not going to allow it."
In August 2001, Bush announced that his administration would allow federal funding only for research on about 60 stem-cell lines that existed at the time. Researchers have since found that many of those lines are contaminated and unusable for research.
Scientists say stem cells could be a renewable source of replacement cells and tissues to treat Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, spinal cord injuries, diabetes, strokes, burns and more.
The issue has split the Republican Party, with Bush siding with the Catholic Church and social conservatives against the GOP's more moderate voices. (Watch how the issue pits Bush against some Republicans -- 1:30)
The Senate bill's principal sponsor, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pennsylvania, who recently survived a brush with cancer, was joined by Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tennessee, a physician who argued that Bush's policy is too restrictive.
"I am pro-life, but I disagree with the president's decision to veto the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act," Frist said in a statement. "Given the potential of this research and the limitations of the existing lines eligible for federally funded research, I think additional lines should be made available."
Also in a statement, Lawrence T. Smith, chairman of the American Diabetes Association, called the veto "a devastating setback for the 20.8 million American children and adults with diabetes -- and those who love and care for them."
Opponents argue that other alternatives, such as adult stem cells, are available. Two companion bills -- one to promote alternative means of developing stem-cell lines from sources such as placental blood and another to ban the commercial production of human fetal tissue, also known as "fetal farming" -- passed the Senate in 100-0 votes.
On Tuesday evening, the House approved the "fetal farming" bill 425-0 but didn't pass the measure promoting alternative stem-cell sources when backers failed to achieve the two-thirds majority that House rules required. The vote on the alternative-sources bill was 273-154.
Bush signed the "fetal farming" legislation and urged Congress to fund alternative research.
"I'm disappointed that the House failed to authorize funding for this vital and ethical research," he said. "It makes no sense to say that you're in favor of finding cures for terrible diseases as quickly as possible and then block a bill that would authorize funding for promising and ethical stem-cell research."
A House GOP aide said that the leadership would bring the funding bill back to the floor at another time under a different set of rules that would require a simple majority to pass the measure.
CNN's Dana Bash and Deirdre Walsh contributed to this report.
Na quarta-feira (19), o Presidente dos Estados Unidos da América, George W. Bush usou o primeiro veto a que tem direito na sua presidência em um projeto de lei federal sobre  pesquisa científica que usa células-tronco embrionárias. 

O projeto de lei visava  aumentar o número de linhagens de células-tronco em pesquisas científicas fianciadas pelo governo. 

Apesar do veto, a destruição de embriões para extrair células-tronco ainda se realizará na pesquisa científica; a pesquisa não será simplesmente financiada pelo governo federal. É ilegal nos Estados Unidos  criar (através da concepção) embriões com o objetivo de pesquisa científica.

O projeto de lei já tinha passado no Senado por 63 a 37. São necessários quatro votos de uma maioria de 2/3 para evitar o veto presidencial. A lei agora  voltará agora ao Congresso.

O Presidente Bush já anunciara  anteriormente que  vetaria esta lei.

Bush descreveu-a como uma etapa que cruzaria "uma linha moral".  "Esta lei  apoiaria a tomada de vida de pessoas inocentes",  disse o sr. Bush na Casa Branca, enquanto estava rodeado de pais e crianças que nasceram como  parte de um programa de adoção de embriões.  "Cada um desses embriões humanos é uma vida única com dignidade inerente e valor incomparável. Esses meninos e  meninas não são restos."

Nancy Pelosi, líder da minoria da Câmara, disse que "o veto é equivalente a dizer  "não" para a esperarança. Depende dos membros do Congresso representar os seus eleitores e   votar para ignorar o veto."

Muitas organizações conhecidas— como a Fundação de Christopher Reeve e Michael J. Fox para a pesquisa do Mal de Parkinson — defendiam ativamente a aprovação da lei.