Danielle George - All Headline News Staff Reporter

Washington (AHN)- The Senate plans to vote on stem cell legislation this month, possibly next week.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the legislation in May with a bipartisan margin, but President Bush has vowed to veto it, citing ethical concerns.

Embryonic stem cells are derived from human embryos, which are destroyed in the process. "A true culture of life seeks to cure disease and alleviate suffering, not deny help," said Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA).

Critics of the embryonic stem cell bill, center much of their efforts on alternative legislation that would fund experimental means of deriving stem cells without destroying a human embryo.

Senate Majority Leader, Bill Frist (R-TN), a Tennessee Republican with close ties to the White House, has been involved in efforts to draft legislation focusing on these alternative research routes, according to Reuters.

But those methods are more preliminary and speculative, and would likely take much longer to yield any therapies or cures for crippling human diseases, several scientists told a Senate hearing earlier this week.