Senate passes umbilical-cord-blood bill

This is good news:

The Senate on Friday passed legislation to promote collection and expand therapeutic use of umbilical cord blood, which can be used to treat such diseases as leukemia.

The legislation involves "adult stem cells" drawn from umbilical cords of newborn babies or the placenta.

It is noncontroversial -- unlike legislation that would allow federally funded research of embryonic stem cells derived from leftover embryos at fertility centers.

This news, though, is a bit more troubling (to me):

Some lawmakers who back both bills had been reluctant to approve the cord blood bill without the embryonic stem cell bill but decided on Friday to let the less controversial bill go through.

It is hard for me to see why lawmakers whose support for public funding of embryonic stem-cell research is motivated by concern for those with serious diseases would even consider holding up research that presents fewer moral problems.