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A
federal judge has allowed
a preliminary injunction against the taxpayer funding of embryonic stem
cell research while the case is being decided.
The judge indicated that the plaintiffs had made a strong case that NIH
policies approved by President Obama violate the Dickey Wicker provisions of
federal law which “unambiguously prohibits the use of federal funds for all research
in which a human embryo is destroyed.”
NRO explains the significance
and background of this case. Steve
Chapman exposes some “inconvenient
truths” about stem cell research.
While
pro-lifers are cheering the
decision, the Obama administration has indicated it will
appeal. Also, a Democrat
Congresswoman who frequently champions the taxpayer funding of embryonic stem
cell research has proposed
legislation to overturn the decision of the federal court.
Check
out AdvanceUSA’s resources on stem
cells and cloning and adult stem cells.
According
to news
reports, two new
studies indicate that stem cells created from reprogrammed body cells may
not be as pluripotent as embryonic stem cells.
Even if it is proven one day that iPSC (induced pluripotent stem cells)
will never be as malleable as stem cells obtained from destroyed human embryos,
it doesn’t make embryonic stem cell research any less unethical. Feeling somewhat skeptical about the spin
generated by the media over these studies, AdvanceUSA contacted Dr. David
Prentice to get a better perspective on the implications of these studies. Here’s what he told us by email:
The data show that with current techniques,
some iPS cells may not be completely reprogrammed to be identical to embryonic
stem cells. But the results also show
that in some cases this made it easier to change the iPS cells into specialized
tissues, such as blood cells. Both
papers also showed that subsequent manipulation could further reprogram iPS
cells to a more embryonic-like state.
Several leading embryonic stem cell scientists have also noted that the
techniques are still being improved, and it is simply a matter of time until
these hurdles are overcome.
Regardless, this is still no justification
for further destruction of embryos, nor especially to justify cloning of human
embryos for experiments, which is what one paper seems to imply. While this is interesting in terms of basic
science, embryonic stem cells are poor substitutes for adult stem cells and the
current successful treatments that they are already delivering to thousands of
patients.
Dr.
Prentice explains even more in a recent
blog post at FRC Blog.
ABC
News reports that a new stem cell “homing” technique cured rabbits of joint
problems by causing stem cells in their body to move to problem areas and
replace damaged tissues. This suggests
that similar techniques could probably be used in humans without the need to
destroy human embryos. Dr. Prentice adds
more helpful
expert commentary at FRC Blog.
In
Terry Jeffrey’s insightful
article on why liberalism is really all about “control” he comments on
President Obama’s decision to force taxpayers to fund unethical forms of stem
cell research that require the destruction of human embryos. Excerpt:
President Barack Obama played perhaps the
perfect role of the Control Freak last year when he issued an executive order
directing that federal tax dollars be used to fund stem cell research that
kills human embryos. Under Obama's program, the government will take money from
Americans who profoundly -- and correctly -- object to the deliberate killing
of any innocent human being because it is a violation of the inalienable
God-given right to life and gives that money to scientists who will use it to
assume God-like authority over the lives of others, reducing them to mere
instruments of their research.
The federally funded embryonic stem cell
researcher takes absolute government-approved control of the embryo surrendered
to his custody. The only difference between that embryonic human being and the
human beings reading this column is age. And the only reason a government that
uses tax dollars to kill human embryos would not use tax dollars to kill human
grandmothers and grandfathers is if the people running the government concede
there is a moment in time between when a human is an embryo and when a human is
a grandparent that they attain human rights the government has a duty to
protect.
ABC News reports. Excerpt:
Frozen blood from stored samples can be
used to make cells resembling stem cells, researchers said on Thursday --
opening a potential new and easier source for the valued cells.
They used cells from blood to make induced
pluripotent stem cells or iPS cells -- lab-made cells that closely resemble
human embryonic stem cells but are made from ordinary tissue.
These iPS cells have in the past been made
from plugs of skin, but blood is much easier to take from people and to store,
the researchers reported in the journal Cell Stem Cell.
The
Telegraph reports. As does the NY
Daily News. Ethical adult stem cell
treatments continue to outperform unethical embryonic stem cell research, which
has yet to produce successful treatments or therapies. Unfortunately, many media sources unnecessarily
distort the issue by refusing to distinguish ethical ADULT stem cell research
from unethical EMBRYONIC stem cell research which destroys an innocent human
life.
Find
out more at our stem cell
page.
Patrick
Lee and Robert P. George have a great article at NRO explaining how the
moment of fertilization is the only rational point at which human life can
be said to begin. Excerpt:
Fertilization in humans and other mammals
produces a new member of the species in the embryonic stage of its natural
development. That is to say, the entity produced by the union of spermatozoon
and oocyte is a complete, though developmentally immature, organism. Unlike the
gametes — the sperm and egg cells independent of each other — it is no mere
part of another organism, nor is it merely something that can be used to
produce a complete organism. At fertilization, the ovum and the sperm cease to
be and something new comes to be — an organism (the embryo) whose genetic
constitution and epigenetic state orient and dispose it to develop in the
direction of maturity as a member of the species.
Dr.
David Prentice reports that, despite all the problems with unethical
embryo-destroying research and human cloning, liberals in Congress still want
to fund human cloning with your tax dollars.
If
members of Congress really want to promote treatments and prevent human cloning
they should support legislation like the Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2009
(H.R. 1050) which is a total ban on human cloning and the Patients First Act of
2009 (H.R. 877) which prioritizes ethical forms of stem cell research which
have the most potential for actual treatments and cures.
David
Prentice reports on the efforts of the NIH to allow more forms of unethical
embryonic stem cell research to receive taxpayer funding.
The
Financial Times reports on another exciting discovery demonstrating how
unethical embryonic stem cell research and human cloning are totally
unnecessary for treating disease and making medical breakthroughs.
Townhall
examines recent successes from ethical adult stem cell therapy while NRP only looks
at unethical embryo-destroying forms of stem cell research.
The BBC reports that
techniques for obtaining donor-specific pluripotent stem cells from ordinary
skin cells are becoming more efficient.
Once again, science shows that unethical embryonic stem cell research is
totally unnecessary.
LifeNews reports. Excerpt:
Scientists and pro-life advocates say human
embryonic stem cells are not ready for trial because problems associated with
the cells in animals haven't been solved. The embryonic stem cells still cause
tumors and have issues with the immune system rejecting the injection of the
cells.
Geron had planned to begin the trials this
summer but said it will halt that pending the FDA review and did not know how
long it would take the regulatory agency to conduct its evaluation.
The FDA initially cleared the trials in
January, which would involve 8 to 10 patients.
Embryonic stem cell research has never
cured or helped any patients to this point. Only the use of adult stem cells
and treatments derived from them have cured or reduced the effects of any
diseases or conditions afflicting patients.
The Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel reports on an exciting new way to obtain pluripotent stem cells
(cells that can transform into any tissue type) from an ethical and abundant
source, human blood. Excerpts:
Cellular Dynamics is the first company to
say it can make stem cells from something as readily available, and so
representative of human diversity, as blood.
. . .
The stem cells, which scientists refer to
as induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells, have all the characteristics of
embryonic stem cells [except they don’t involve destroying human embryos]. They
can turn into beating heart cells, liver cells or any other tissue cells in the
body.
The
Washington Post reports. The article’s
sub headline (Critics Fear That Women Will Be Exploited) says it all about the
ethical concerns over the exploitation of women that is inherent to this kind
of policy and to what is required to conduct forms of human cloning.
LifeNews reports. Apparently President Obama finds no use for
ethical considerations when it comes to controversial issues like human cloning
and embryo-destroying stem cell research.
The Culture of Life Foundation offers a “Requiem for the
President’s Council on Bioethics.”
Excerpt:
Two weeks ago President Obama sent a memo
to the members of the President’s Council on Bioethics (PCB) [1] informing them
that their appointments were being prematurely terminated.
The
DC Examiner reports. Excerpt:
Researchers at the Children's Hospital
& Research Center in Oakland, California have discovered a new way to
harvest stem cells from the placenta.
This technique is a good use of the placenta which at the moment serves
no medicinal purpose after birth and thus is discarded. What is more, the study
“finds there are far more stem cells in placentas than in umbilical cord blood,
and they can be safely extracted for transplantation.”
CitizenLink reports. Besides the obvious ethical and right to life
issues involved with human cloning, grave health concerns and women’s rights
issues are also raised because of the huge demand for human ovum involved with
human cloning and in the serious health risks associated with human egg
donation.
WCCO reports. Excerpt:
Desperate to help her daughter, Radde
surfed the Internet for answers. That's how she found out what a doctor at
Northwestern Memorial in Chicago was doing.
Dr. Richard Burt is using patients' own
stem cells to fight MS.
"This therapy's designed to reset your
immune system," said Burt.
"He's been doing these stem cell
transplants and every single person that has been in this program has halted
their disease," said Radde.
"Eighty-one percent of them are
actually healing and regenerating their myelin, and that's the covering on the
nerves that every MS patient wants to keep," said Jung.
Jill Stanek
catalogues President Obama’s bad positions on pro-life issues, but also finds
encouragement from the fact that the President might be making pro-abortion
policies less popular with the American people.
NewsOn6 reports. While this potentially life-saving form of
ethical stem cell treatment is still rather expensive, couples can still choose
to donate their left-over umbilical cord stem cells for the benefit of others.
Our
friends at FRC have released
a video grading President Obama on his first one hundred days in
office. The president doesn’t make high
grades on pro-life and family issues. LifeNews also reviews Obama’s
100 days on pro-life issues.
Neal
McCluskey grades the president on education reform. Excerpt:
If you look just at dollar signs or
rhetoric to measure the education success of Barack Obama’s first one-hundred
days, then the President should get an A. Base it on meaningful reform,
however, and he’d be lucky to get a passing grade.
Congressional
Quarterly gives us a “heads up” on how the upcoming stem cell battle will
focus on human embryo cloning. Excerpt:
As the Obama administration prepares to
greatly expand the government’s investments in embryonic stem cell research,
the next big biomedical research debate in Congress is shaping up: whether to
allow government funding of experiments using cloned human embryos.
As
the Independent
and the Mail
Online report, a fertility expert is claiming he will be able to clone
human beings and bring them to birth.
While most people agree that reproductive cloning is wrong, but many
seem to think that cloning human embryos for the purposes of stem cell research
is okay as long as the cloned embryos are killed and not implanted into the
mother’s womb. Really, they’re both just
as wrong.
In
an
article for Nature, FRC’s David Christensen provided his expert opinion on
the recently drafted stem cell research funding guidelines for the National
Institute of Health. Excerpt:
Those who oppose the research because
deriving stem cell lines requires the destruction of days-old embryos say that
the guidelines would vastly expand an enterprise they deplore. "It's forcing
American taxpayers to spend their money creating essentially an incentive to
create and destroy more human embryos," says David Christensen, senior
director of Congressional affairs at the Family Research Council in Washington
DC.
Christensen noted that the guidelines don't
require the fertility doctor and the researcher to be different people, but say
only that that this should be the case "whenever it [is]
practicable". "This is really crafted with huge loopholes," he
says.
Reuters
reports. Excerpt:
Patients will receive injections containing
millions of their own stem cells, which have been extracted and multiplied up
in a laboratory, and can regenerate new tissue to repair damaged regions.
More than 1,500 race horses have been
treated using the same process and follow-up data suggests a 50 percent
reduction in re-injury over a three year period, compared with conventional
treatment.
OneNewsNow
reports on the potential “bait and switch” in embryonic stem cell language
claiming to allow research only on “leftover” IVF embryos. First, there is no such thing as a “leftover”
human life. But second, if this research
door is opened it is very unlikely it will stop at IVF embryos, but also
include embryos created for the sole purpose of experimentation and death. Excerpt:
"We believe now that the bill that is
likely to come before the House will be even much more expansive than that and
will open the door to federal funding that uses human embryos who are
deliberately created for the purpose of using them in research that will kill
them, including the use of human cloning to create large numbers of human
embryos to be used in research," he [Douglas Johnson of National Right to
Life] says.
The
Scotsman reports on some exciting developments in ethical adult stem cell
research. Hopefully, human cartilage
will be produced using adult stem cells from patients’ own bodies.
Dr.
David Prentice and Clarke Forsythe have written a helpful
opinion piece on President Obama’s push to invest our tax dollars on
unethical stem cell research with very little prospect of success. Excerpt:
Despite his talk of economic hardship,
President Obama has been on an ideological spending spree -- expanding
government, increasing taxes, and doubling the national debt. New money pits
are dug daily. Consider Obama's commitment to government controlled health care
and the possible nationalization of banks. But little discussed has been the
financial ramifications of taxpayer-funded human embryonic stem cell research.
The morality of such life-destroying
science aside, it is a prime example of pork barrel spending as it funds the
kind of stem cell research that has the least chance of leading to real
therapies for real patients. While it's "only" a billion dollars so
far -- chump change, perhaps, out of a $3 trillion budget -- at a time of fiscal
crisis, it's an "investment" in failure.
The
American Thinker reports. Excerpt:
President Obama's statement that human
cloning is "dangerous and wrong" is a non sequitur in its context,
because there is no material difference between abortion, embryonic stem cell
research, and cloning. They differ in appearance, they sometimes differ in
ends, but they differ not one whit in essence. Each is an instance of
deliberately destroying an innocent human being at a certain stage of
development. If the first two are OK, then the third is OK as well. Let's see
why.
Daniel Herbster reporting
We again have the privilege to hear from Dr. David Prentice about important bioethical issues. Dr. Prentice has years of teaching and research experience, and he now works for the illustrious Family Research Council in Washington, DC. With President Obama’s recent actions on taxpayer funding of embryo-destroying research, I thought it would be good to hear from our friend and my former teacher.
DH: Dr. Prentice, what exactly did President Obama do in his recent executive order? How will it affect the sanctity of life in this country?
DP: President Obama has removed any restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. The previous Bush policy restricted federal funds for those lines (dishes) of human embryonic stem cells that were already in existence on Aug 9, 2001; this allowed funding for the research to proceed, but did not provide any incentive for more embryo destruction. Now, any lines can receive federal funding, no matter when the embryo was destroyed, and no matter how the embryo was produced. This would mean even for cases in the future, and for embryos created by cloning, or for human-animal hybrid embryos.
DH: It seems ironic that the President would chose to announce his new policy on embryonic stem cell research a matter of weeks after a major breakthrough in ethically produced induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC). Could you tell us what exactly these researchers accomplished and how does it relate to the push for more embryonic stem cell research?
DP: Recently scientists at MIT showed that they could produce these induced stem cells (iPS cells) directly from a Parkinson’s patient, and make the type of neurons in the lab that are missing in the patient. They are still years or decades away from ever using these cells in a patient, but it illustrates the ease with which these iPS cells can be produced, producing cells for study in the laboratory, and all without the use of embryos, eggs, or cloning.
DH: In his remarks President Obama claimed to oppose “human cloning.” What do you think he meant by this statement and do you believe he is being completely accurate?
As
if forcing Americans to support embryo-destroying research with their tax
dollars wasn’t enough, President Barack Obama has also overturned Bush guidelines
which sent research money to ethically obtained adult stem cells which, unlike
embryonic stem cells, are actually producing real results and treatments. LifeNews
reports. Excerpt:
President Barack Obama did more on Monday
than just force taxpayers to fund embryonic stem cell research that requires
the destruction of human life. He also rescinded an executive order President
Bush put into place funding adult stem cells and new research with iPS cells.
LifeNews reports. Just the fact that Snowflake Babies exist
belies to oft-repeated notion that there is such a thing as “leftover” human
beings (human embryos).
 President Obama announced today that
he was signing an executive order overturning President Bush’s restrictions on
embryonic stem cell research. Formerly,
researchers were prohibited from using tax dollars on research which destroyed
human embryos. At the signing ceremony,
Obama pledged his opposition to “human cloning,” but it is most likely that he
means only cloning human beings for the purposes of bringing the cloned human
to birth (so-called reproductive cloning).
However, liberals often approve of the cloning of human embryos for
research purposes as long as the cloned embryos are killed at some early stage
of development, denying that this is in fact human cloning.
This is another sad chapter in the annals of the Obama administration,
especially in its lack of respect for innocent human life.
The
Weekly Standard Blog reports.
Excerpt:
President Obama today fulfilled his
campaign promise to lift federal-funding restrictions on research involving the
destruction of human embryos. He couldn't have done so at a more inappropriate
time, for just last week scientists made headlines again announcing yet another
breakthrough in what is known as "induced pluripotent stem-cell"
technology.
ABC
News also reports. Congressman Mike
Pence (R-IN) responded today.
Read
the executive
order here and read President Obama’s statements
today here.
For
more information check the AdvanceUSA
stem cell page.
 Ethical stem cell research has made another dramatic advance as researchers in Great Britain and Canada successfully created pluripotent (regenerative cells which can transform into any cell type) stem cells from ordinary skin cells using a new method far more efficient than what was previously known. This means that induced pluripotent stem cell research (iPSC) could soon be tested in humans, without the risks of tissue rejections and tumor formation associated with unethical embryo-destructive research.
LifeNews reports. Excerpt:
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPS cells) have made yet another advance as they continue to become a second alternative to embryonic stem cell research. Yesterday, scientists in Canada and England published a paper showing they had turned skin cells into iPS cells.
The article, in the prestigious scientific journal Nature saw the research teams announce how they had successfully reprogrammed ordinary skin cells into iPS cells without the use of viruses to transmit the reprogramming genes to the cell.
The Medical Research Council also reports. Excerpt:
Scientists have paved the way for stem cells made from skin cells to be safely transplanted into humans – by overcoming one of the main health risks associated with previous techniques.
The team of researchers from the UK and Canada say their discovery could ultimately spell an end to the need for human embryos as a source of stem cells. Their findings are published today in two papers in Nature online.
Click here and here for the original articles published in Nature. Also, The Washington Post and the BBC also report on this astounding discovery.
Unfortunately, despite these and other astounding advances in ethical stem cell research (not to mention the practical treatments already being offered by adult stem cell research), Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) is pushing to have our tax dollars spent on research which destroys innocent human embryos. The Express-Times also reports. Excerpt:
U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., is taking the lead on Capitol Hill in calling for expanded embryonic stem cell research.
A bill he introduced last week would overturn a Bush policy that restricts federal funding for such studies. The legislation is expected to complement action by President Obama.
For a wealth of information and resources on this important issue, check out AdvanceUSA’s stem cell page and adult stem cell page.
Our
friend Tom McClusky at FRC has a helpful
blog post explaining what “pro-life riders” are and how we need to be
watchful over every piece of legislation (especially the massive omnibus
spending bill Congress is now considering) to ensure that each of these
important pro-life provisions are preserved.
 CBS News and the AP report. Both articles explain how fetal stem cells caused tumors because of their hard-to-control nature. The same problems happen with embryonic stem cells. Unfortunately, these articles might cause someone to think that all areas of stem cell research are problematic, but adult stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells have not shown tumor causing tendencies and these forms do not involve destroying human life.
ABC News reports
on this first FDA authorized TRIAL using unethical embryonic stem cells. It should be noted that this trial does not
involve treatment but is only a test to see if health dangers occur or if there
is any real potential for success. Even
in the likely event that some sort of benefit is claimed from these studies,
that would not overrule the non-negotiable ethical problems with destroying one
human life for the benefit of another.
Daniel
Herbster reporting
 Wesley
J. Smith is an influential writer and commentator who has dedicated his career
to preserving human dignity and educating his fellow man on the principles of
bioethics and justice. He is a senior
fellow at the Discovery Institute and a
special consultant to the Center for Bioethics
and Culture. He has also written a
number of books, and he blogs at Secondhand
Smoke. Smith was kind enough to
share with AdvanceUSA’s readers about important bioethics issues facing our society
today and about his work.
DH: Why are bioethics issues so important?
WJS: Bioethics is a contraction for “biomedical
ethics.” It is a field that has profound influence over core areas of human
endeavor that help establish and define the morality of society, and indeed,
the meaning of human life itself. Should elderly people have their health care
rationed? Is assisted suicide a proper
medical service? Is it right to create
cloned human embryos for use in research or to bring to birth? Is it wrong to abort fetuses because they
test positive for Down syndrome? Should parents be able to genetically enhance
their children? Are there morally relevant differences between humans and
animals? What should happen if a nurse
refuses to participate in an abortion or a physician wants to cut off wanted
life-sustaining medical treatment because the patient has a poor “quality of
life?” These and other equally important
bioethical issues are much larger than the sum of their parts because they
establish philosophical norms that exert tremendous influence upon society
beyond the policies themselves. Indeed,
I can think of few fields more important than bioethics in determining the kind
of society we shall become in the 21st century.
DH: What is “human exceptionalism” and how does
it relate to issues of life and justice?
WJS: Human exceptionalism refers to the sheer
moral importance and unique value of being human. I believe strongly that adhering to human
exceptionalism is the predicate to defending universal human rights. Indeed,
whether we accept or reject human exceptionalism may be the most important
issue we face as a culture. For if we say that simply being human is not what gives value to life, we have to
ask a second question: What does? That
second question leads directly to a system wherein those with power decide
which of us has greater--and which lesser—value, and who decides those who
don’t make muster. Thus, many in bioethics support “personhood theory,” which
denies the objective moral value of being human and claims that what matters morally
is being a “person,” a status earned
by possessing minimal cognitive capacities. In this view, there is such a thing
as a human “non person,” such as fetuses, newborns, and people who have lost
these capacities, such as Terri Schiavo.
Worse, because the human non person is defined as having lesser value,
they lose the right to life and, can be used instrumentally such as in medical
experimentation or as sources of organs.
Indeed, there is much agitation in bioethics and within the organ
transplant community to redefine death to include a diagnosis of persistent
vegetative state—meaning that if this view prevails, severely compromised
people could essentially be killed for their organs. This isn’t happening—yet—but the only way to
make sure that such policies are never instituted is to adhere to human
exceptionalism.
The Star Tribune
reports. Only time will tell what
will happen to Bush’s important pro-life regulations after the Obama
administration “reviews” them.
 New White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel
 AdvanceUSA has learned from friends
on Capitol Hill that the Obama administration is expected to quickly overturn
Bush policies limiting taxpayer funding of unethical embryonic stem cell
research and taxpayer funding of overseas abortions (ex: Mexico City Policy) soon
after the inauguration. Please contact President-elect Barack
Obama through his transition website to tell him you want him to preserve
these important, common sense pro-life policies.
We
must preserve the executive branch restrictions on taxpayer funding of
embryo-destroying research and overseas abortions.
Helen
M. Alvaré at the Culture of Life Foundation, provides a helpful look at where
unethical embryonic stem cell research stands today and what related
political developments we should expect to see in the near future. Excerpt:
Incoming President Barack Obama’s strenuous
support for legal abortion is well-known. His unbridled enthusiasm for
destructive embryonic stem cell research (ESCR) is likely less visible to most
Americans. But President-elect Obama’s
statements about ESCR throughout his campaign, and his behavior as a U.S.
Senator, make him a ‘warrior” for the cause no less fierce that (now-disgraced)
Senator John Edwards, who famously over-stated that if the federal government
had funded ESCR all along, the late actor Christoper [sic] Reeve might have
“[gotten] up out of that wheelchair and walk[ed] again.” ...
Fast forward four years, and science is demonstrating, as (Dr. E.
Christian Brugger wrote in his recent “Morning of the Stem Cell Revolution)
that it is adult stem cell research which is providing actual patient
treatments.
LifeNews reports. Excerpt:
One major problem is that they tend to form
cancerous cells or tumors after they are injected -- and scientists have yet to
stop that from happening.
A new article in Nature Reports Stem Cells
highlights the work of Mickie Bhatia and colleagues at McMaster University that
shows that the embryonic stem cells that look the best may perform the worst.
"When it comes to embryonic stem
cells, the very qualities researchers use to pick out a robust cell line may in
fact be bestowed by precancerous transformations," the article suggests.
“Current measurements are not capable of
distinguishing the difference between great stem cells and cancer stem cells in
vitro,” Bhatia explains.
The researchers say the problem is and
can't be determined before they transform into specific body tissues through
the process called differentiation. As a result, solving the problem of tumors
from embryonic stem cell injections may be difficult, if not impossible.
The Wall Street
Journal reports. During the last
election season some people claimed that abortion and other pro-life issues “really
didn’t matter” because the president has very little control over pro-life
issues while Roe vs. Wade is on the
books. Nothing could be further from the
truth.
Tony
Perkins at the Family Research Council helpfully lists the many
pro-life executive policies that could be threatened in a new
administration.
- Rescind
the Mexico City policy, which would direct taxpayer dollars to groups that
provide and promote abortion overseas;
- Restore
funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which condones forced
abortion and sterilization policies in countries like China;
- Direct
the Department of Health and Human Services to change the conscience exemptions
for health care workers who morally object to abortion and other practices;
- Change
the Department of Justice Sexual Assault Protocol, Defense Department
pharmaceutical formulary, and USAID's Commodities Program to encourage the use
of "Plan B," which can act as an abortifacient;
- Create
incentives to provide subsidized birth control at college health centers and
other providers;
-
Make
"emergency contraception" available over-the-counter for girls of all
ages;
- Rollback
the abstinence-only education requirement for certain federal aid; and,
- Permit
the use of taxpayer funds for the destruction of human embryos through
unethical stem cell research.
HT:
FRC
LifeNews reports. Excerpt:
Two groups of researchers have made more
progress with the use of adult stem cells -- showing they are both more ethical
and more effective than their embryonic counterparts. In this latest find, they
demonstrated that adult stem cells can self renew and repair tissue damage.
CitizenLink reports. Excerpt:
Carrie Gordon Earll, senior bioethics
analyst at Focus on the Family Action, said women should not be enticed to put
their health and their lives at risk for financial benefit.
"That goes against every tenet of
medical ethics," she said. "Serious complications can come into play,
including blood clots, liver and kidney damage, future infertility and even
death.
"And even if the risks are minimal,
this type of idea enters into creating life outside of the marital union, and
that’s something Focus on the Family does not support.”
D.
Joy Riley, M.D gives an important perspective on the debate
over taxpayer funding of stem cell research that destroys human embryos. She also shows how Britain is an example of
where confusion over what a human embryo can lead. Excerpt:
“…induced pluripotent cells (iPS) —
embryonic-like stem cells formed without destroying embryos — have been
produced. James Thomson, who originally reported human ESC culture in 1998,
sees iPS as the future. Likewise, Ian Wilmut, famous for cloning
"Dolly", has endorsed iPS over cloning as the way forward. Still the
clamor for federal funds and human embryos continues.”
The
Telegraph has the exclusive interview with the woman who had her wind
pipe replaced using her own adult stem cells. This piece also includes video. Excerpt:
"The moment I woke after the
procedure, I looked up at the doctor and he smiled and told me it had been
successful - it was the best moment ever," she said. "I knew then
that I had a life and a future."
The 30-year-old Colombian mother of two,
who has lived in Spain for nine years, was struck down by tuberculosis five
years ago. She was given conventional treatment but her condition worsened.
"I was coughing all the time, I
couldn't walk very far and I couldn't say more than a few words at a time
before becoming breathless," said the dental nurse speaking on Wednesday
at the Barcelona hospital where she was treated. "I wasn't able to work
and couldn't do the normal things mothers do for their children."
Last January she was offered the chance of
a replacement windpipe grown using her own stem cells, a pioneering process
known as "tissue engineering". Without the transplant, surgeons would
have had to remove one of lungs, a procedure that carries a high mortality
rate.
LifeNews also reports.
USA
Today reports. Excerpt:
Like previous presidents, Obama is expected
to issue a flurry of executive orders after he takes office Jan. 20. Some could
reverse Bush administration policies; others could promote his own.
Ending a ban on government funding for
research using embryonic stem cells would be among the most controversial.
"The question is, does the Bush policy
get replaced with the law of the jungle" where scientists can create and
clone human embryos for the sole purpose of studying their cells and then
destroying them, asks Richard Doerflinger, the bishops conference's associate
director of the Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities. "We are very
concerned about it as a moral issue."
The
Times Online reports. Excerpt:
A leading British scientist is leaving the
country to work in France after claiming that British science gives too much
priority to embryo experiments over “more ethical” alternatives.
The
Washington Post reports. Excerpt:
Scientists reported yesterday that they
have overcome a major obstacle to using a promising alternative to embryonic
stem cells, bolstering prospects for bypassing the political and ethical tempest
that has embroiled hopes for a new generation of medical treatments.
The researchers said they found a safe way
to coax adult cells to regress into an embryonic state, alleviating what had
been the most worrisome uncertainty about developing the cells into potential
cures.
LifeNews also reports.
LifeNews reports. Excerpt:
Wisconsin scientist James Thomson is
considered the father of embryonic stem cell research for isolating the first
embryonic stem cell in 1998. Now comes the news that Thomson's two research
companies are merging and planning to focus their energies on stem cells that
don't involve the destruction of human life.
The
Scientific American reports what many of us already know, that embryonic
stem cells are often rejected by donor’s bodies, unlike adult and umbilical
cord stem cells. Excerpt:
The much-ballyhooed human embryonic stem
cell apparently may share a problem with transplanted organs: a high
probability of rejection.
Researchers at Stanford University School
of Medicine found that mice mounted an immune response after being injected
with human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). The result: all the transplanted stem
cells—which hold the promise of maturing into several different types of
tissue—were dead within a week.
This
amazing piece in the Times of London highlights the
real-world, life-saving results from non-embryonic sources of stem cells. Excerpt:
Peter Houghton, a lorry driver from
Preston, is understandably excited about the establishment of Kingscord, a new
UK centre for storing discarded umbilical cords and placenta, which are packed
with precious stem cells. Why? Because his baby son's life was saved by the
umbilical cord of a baby in Australia, whose parents opted to donate it to a
cord blood bank after the birth of their child, in the hope that it would one
day provide someone with a life-saving stem-cell transplant, more commonly
known as a bone-marrow transplant.
Read
full
article here.
Time
reports. Excerpt:
After nearly a decade of setbacks and false
starts, stem-cell science finally seems to be hitting its stride. Just a year
after Japanese scientists first reported that they had generated stem cells by
reprogramming adult skin cells — without using embryos — American researchers
have managed to use that groundbreaking technique to achieve another scientific
milestone. They created the first nerve cells from reprogrammed stem cells — an
important demonstration of the potential power of stem-cell-based treatments to
cure disease.
As NPR
reports, these ethically obtained stem cells are not yet ready for
treatment, but the research provides hope that the neural cell destroyed by ALS
might one day be regenerated through induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC).
The
Telegraph also reports.
Chuck
Colson explains the advantages of ethically obtained adult stem cells over
their unethical embryonic counterparts in a recent episode of
BreakPoint. He also explains how the
cult of scientism allows people to view human life as an object for use and
rather as something sacred to be protected.
Colson’s words are succinct and informative and are well worth the three
minutes it takes to listen. Read or listen to
this episode here.
CitizenLink reports. Excerpt:
Umbilical-cord blood has been used to treat
2-year-old Chloe Levine, who was born with cerebral palsy, a neurological
disorder that prevented her from using the right side of her body.
Two months after the Pinetop, Ariz.,
toddler was infused with stem cells from her own umbilical-cord blood, Levine
has made a 50 percent recovery and is walking, running and able to use her
right hand.
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is putting millions of dollars into adult stem cell research in the hopes of finding effective treatments for eye diseases. It’s interesting that people who actually want to make money off of cures and treatments are betting their investing their money in ethical adult stem cell sources rather than unethical embryonic sources.
Meanwhile, two doctors in Louisiana “have successfully used adult stem-cell therapy to help patients fight heart disease.” Citizenlink reports. Also, Harvard Medical School researchers have found that human adult and umbilical cord stem cells have been used to successfully create blood vessels in mice. This raises hopes that adult stem cells will be useful in repairing damaged circulatory tissue.
Check out the adult stem cell page or the adult stem cell blog category for more news on ethical breakthroughs and treatments.
The
Pew Forum has released a helpful
resource on the stem cell debate.
According to Pew, the percentage of Americans who support unethical
embryonic stem cell research is shrinking.
If more people knew the facts about stem cells, this percentage would
likely shrink even more.
Our
friend Dr. David Prentice and a team of experts, have authored a report on the amazing
adult stem cell success stories that have happened during 2008. Unethical embryonic research has yet to
produce one successful cure or treatment.
Take a look at these amazing results.
Daniel Herbster reporting
 In the stem cell debate, you will often here proponents of unethical embryonic stem cell research say that we have hundreds of thousands of “leftover embryos” from IVF clinics and that the “only” thing to be done with them is to kill them for use in research. Besides the fact that the numbers of available embryos is greatly exaggerated (when you consider that most parents of frozen embryos want to keep them), the fact that human embryos can be and have been adopted by couples unable to have children on their own shows that death in the lab is not the only option for IVF embryos.
One organization seeking to publicize this exciting adoption option is Nightlight Christian Adoptions. I recently came across their website (http://www.embryoadoption.org/) and I am happy to share with you my interview with Ron Stoddart, the Executive Director of NCA.
Note: The above photo is President Bush, soon after vetoing an unethical embryonic stem cell research funding bill, holding a child who was adopted as an embryo.
DH: Ron, why should we care about what happens to “leftover” IVF embryos?
RS: It is a scientific fact that life begins at conception. The argument is over when life is deserving of protection. There are certainly those who would rather argue that embryos are not life – or are not persons – rather than admit that they just don’t want to afford them the same protection as life that is further developed. They have a fear that if we accord too much respect to embryos then it will be an opening to have Roe v. Wade overturned. I believe that all human life is sacred and deserving of protection. The fact that the embryos have been frozen does not change their nature and they deserve a chance at continued life.
DH: About how many unused embryos are there in this country, and how many of those are even available for research purposes?
RS: The best estimates are that there are about 500,000 embryos currently frozen in fertility clinics around the United States. The decision about the fate of the embryos rests with the family who created them (except in Louisiana where they are protected from destruction). Different surveys have attempted to estimate how many families would donate their embryos for research, so the estimate varies from 15,000 embryos and up. The reality is that the vast majority of families with stored embryos do not know what to do and are struggling with their decision. We are trying to encourage them to have the embryos implanted, if not in the family who created them then in an adoptive family.
DH: Should we respect the rights of human embryos the same way we do for adult human beings? What is the state of the law regarding the treatment of embryos?
RS: A person’s a person regardless how small. There is a lot of wisdom in these words from the WHO. My answer to the question is “yes.” The state of the law, except for Louisiana, is that embryos are treated with slightly more respect than property. Most of the conflicts have arisen when a couple is divorcing. In those cases, the courts have consistently sided with the spouse who wants to destroy the embryos rather then allowing the other spouse to implant them or donating them to another couple. Not much respect there.
DH: What is the mission of Nightlight Christian Adoptions? How long have you been in operation, and how did it get started?
Daniel
Herbster reporting
Have
you ever been frustrated by the way the news media often fails to make the
distinction between adult and embryonic stem cells when talking about research
funding or medical results? The Repair Stem Cell Institute is trying
to do something about it, and I had the opportunity to interview the Chairman
and Founder of this organization, Don Margolis.
DH: Don, what are the differences
between adult and embryonic stem cells?
DM: The
difference is easily described when you don't use the common names but instead
use their reason for existing, which is easier to understand. Adult stem cells are more aptly REPAIR stem
cells (RSC); they know how to do just one function: REPAIR a sick part of the
body. Embryonic stems cells are
PROLIFERATING stem cells (PSC). They
know how to proliferate through some stages and become a zygote, then
proliferate through more stages and become a fetus, then proliferate again
until it is a baby. REPAIR stem cells repair. They repair so much and so well
that 100-plus diseases are being effectively treated with RSC around the
world. Meantime, PSC constantly
frustrate embryonic researchers by refusing to behave as repair cells because,
well, they are NOT. Even when well-trained to repair a disease, PSC may do it
but then off they go, wherever they wish, fighting the attempt to stop them
from proliferating and sometimes they can completely rebel and become tumors.
Now you can see why the treated disease score, after 10 years, is RSC, over
100; PSC, zero.
DH: Why is it so hard for the
media to mention the fact that there is more than one type of stem cell (not
all of which have ethical concerns)? Do
you think there is often an intentional effort to blur the distinction?
DM: The
American news media is more inclined to cover embryonic stem cell news and
trends. I'm hoping that the reason for this slanted news coverage is because
most writers, reporters and editors are uninformed about repair stem cell
science and how relevant this science is right now in treating those 100-plus
diseases, about half of them considered incurable by modern medicine. This is,
of course, is one of the main reasons why The Repair Stem Cell Institute LLC
(RSCI) was created a few months ago. My goal and the goal of my world-class
Science Advisory Board is to educate and inform the American public and news
media community about repair stem cell science and its treatment centers
located around the world. No company or
institution in the world can match the RSCI Science Advisory Board in stem cell
skills and knowledge – no one comes close! Then again, not many in the world
(outside of bloggers) are fighting the science battle for RSC.
DH: What is the The Repair Stem Cell Institute
and what is its mission?
Some
experts looking to get a return on their money are betting on ethically
obtained induced pluripotent stem cells rather than unethical embryonic stem
cell research, according to this
piece at LifeNews.
According to new scientific research
it appears that Parkinson’s disease, one of the maladies often cited by
proponents of unethical embryonic stem cell research as sure to be cured if
only we spend tax dollars to destroy innocent human embryos, might soon be
treated with adult nasal stem cells instead.
Physorg.com
reports. Excerpt:
Research released today provides evidence
that a cure for Parkinson's disease could lie just inside the nose of patients
themselves.
The Griffith University study published
today in the journal Stem Cells found that adult stem cells harvested from the
noses of Parkinson's patients gave rise to dopamine-producing brain cells when
transplanted into the brain of a rat.
News-Medical.net also reports.
And
according to CitizenLink, a man’s back pain was successfully treated in the nation’s first
spinal disc surgery using adult stem cells.
Excerpt:
"Stem cells have shown great promise
over the past three years for treating back pain," Dr. Jeffrey Kleiner said.
"In combination with the dis[c]ectomy, we hope to offer patients long-term
relief from their back pain and to decrease their risk of needing additional
surgeries."
Adult stem cells have been injected into
patients' backs and joints to promote tissue growth, but this is the first time
stem cells have been injected during a spinal surgery, doctors said.
The bone-marrow cells used in the procedure
were harvested from the middle-aged man then brought to the laboratory, where
millions more were grown over three weeks using the patient's blood. Tens of
millions of the cells were then injected into the man's back during a
discectomy, a surgery to remove a herniated or bulging disk.
For
more exciting news on real results from ethical adult stem cell research check
out the AdvanceUSA adult
stem cell page.
CitizenLink reports. Excerpt:
Researchers and doctors have used adult
stem cells to successfully treat 2-year-old Nate Liao, who had a rare, fatal
skin disease called recessive dystrophic epidermolysis.
In October, Nate received a cord-blood and
bone-marrow stem-cell transplant from his brother, Julian. Their mom said
Nate's skin is already stronger. Nate, who was never able to eat normal food,
is now eating pork chops and chips.
This
post
by newsUSA is a helpful reminder of the difference between ethical adult
stem cell research (which are already producing amazing results) and unethical
embryonic stem cell research.
Daniel Herbster reporting
 Dr. David Prentice is one of the foremost experts on bioethics in the country. He has valuable science experience from his days as researcher and teacher, and he now works for groups like the Family Research Council and Do No Harm speaking out on some of the most important (though sometimes confusing) ethical issues facing our society today. I’ve had the opportunity to meet Dr. Prentice a number of times and have heard him speak often so it is a distinct pleasure to interview him today and share with you his scientific expertise.
DH: First off, tell our readers a little about yourself. What did you do before you came to FRC? What are your responsibilities at FRC and Do No Harm?
DP: Before FRC, I spent almost 20 years as Professor of Life Sciences at Indiana State University, at the same time as Adjunct Professor of Medical & Molecular Genetics for Indiana University School of Medicine.
During those years I taught and did lab research, and also spent a few years in administration.
My job description now is somewhat similar: I lecture, give briefings, and testify about science, especially the scientific facts regarding stem cells, cloning, and other biotechnologies.
DH: You often hear people say that we should “leave science to the scientists,” that we who have ethical concerns with particular research techniques have no right to an opinion if we are not scientists ourselves. Is this true? Do we as a society have a stake in deciding what research should or should not be allowed? Why is this notion so dangerous?
 DP: Some scientists might like that, but the fact is that society sets the agenda, both in terms of what's allowed as well as what resources are provided to science. Everyone has a stake in this discussion, because everyone is affected. Leaving these decisions just to one group means we abdicate our responsibility to help form a strong society.
DH: Dr. Prentice, what are stem cells?
DP: A stem cell has 2 main characteristics: (1) It continues to grow and divide, making copies of itself, and (2) given the correct signal, a stem cell can form many different specialized cells of the body.
DH: What are the two general types of stem cells, and are there any ethical differences between them?
 Unfortunately our pro-life compatriots in Great Britain were unsuccessful in passing a ban on the creation of human-animal hybrid embryos for unethical stem cell research in Parliament (for more details check this BBC report). However, it looks as though a move to lower the abortion limit from 24 weeks to 22 or 20 weeks might prove successful. It in encouraging to know that pro-lifers are fighting the good fight elsewhere in the world, but the fact that Britain will likely allow the creation of hybrid cloning is a sobering warning that such research could be coming to American shores in the near future (unless legislation like H.R. 5910 and S. 2358 is passed).
The fact that Great Britain even has a gestation limit on abortion illustrates the surprising fact that the United States is among the nations with the most unrestrictive abortion laws in the world. Many Americans are unaware that the Supreme Court decisions of Roe vs. Wade and Doe vs. Bolton basically mandate that abortion for whatever reason is permissible at almost any stage of prenatal development.
See also: pro-life page, stem cell page
Photo source: roots-travel.co.uk
LifeNews reports. Excerpts:
Wesley Smith, an attorney and bioethics
watchdog, responded to the news.
"Geron Corporation has released a
series of press releases over several years stating that 'next year' it would
start the first human trials using ES cells. Apparently, that won't be
happening yet," he said.
"Tumors are an important worry, as is
efficacy. Meanwhile, those adult stem cell advances keep rolling in," he
added.
…
[Senator] Brownback said human trials
involving embryonic stem cell research are unnecessary given the enormous
success scientists have had with adult stem cells.
“What makes this even more troubling is
that there is a viable ethical alternative with adult stem cells," he
said.
"They are currently being used in the
treatment of well over 70 different diseases and conditions, including spinal
cord injury, type-I diabetes, heart failure, and Parkinson’s disease as
validated by peer-reviewed, published results."
 Proponents of unethical embryonic stem cell research often argue that unused embryos that were created through in vitro fertilization should be destroyed for research purposes because they will only be discarded anyway. The fact that embryos are being adopted (many known as “snowflake” children) by parents unable to have children of their own shows that this argument is incorrect.
CitizenLink recently interviewed the first snowflake family. Click here to read this informative and heart-warming interview.
Our friends in Congress tell us that the House Subcommittee on Health will hold hearings tomorrow on stem cell research. We are pleased that several proponents of ethical adult stem cell research (including a man who was successfully treated with his own adult stem cells after a heart attack) will testify, but we are concerned that the hearings will be used to promote unethical embryonic stem cell research, particularly its support with tax-payer dollars.
CitizenLink also reports.
 The Cures Without Cloning coalition will continue its campaign to amend the Missouri constitution to fully ban human cloning but must wait until 2010. Unfortunately, because of delays in the court process there will not be enough time for the coalition to gather enough signatures to put a true cloning ban on the Missouri ballot in 2008. Anti-cloning forces are encouraged by aspects of a recent appellate court ruling but plan to appeal the final verdict to the Missouri Supreme Court.
Regardless, Cures Without Cloning and other pro-life organizations in Missouri will prepare for the efforts to get the cloning ban on the 2010 Missouri ballot. Click here for read CWC’s press release on the recent court ruling and on plans for the future.
LifeNews reports. Excerpt:
Stem cell researchers continue to make
progress with induced pluripotent stem cells or iPS cells, which are
embryonic-like stem cells that don't require the destruction of human life to
obtain. After their discovery last year, pro-life groups hailed the cells as an
ethical alternative to embryonic stem cell research.
The UCLA researchers that have advanced the
use of the iPS cells before were able progress further and grow functioning
heart and blood cells.
They said the success is the first time iPS
cells have been differentiated into the three types of cardiovascular cells
needed to repair heart and blood vessels.
Mary E. Traeger explains
in the Metro Voice. Excerpt:
It is evident the cloners have won the day.
They have again used the court system to stop efforts to ban human cloning in
Missouri. Even though the judges would uphold Judge Joyce's new ballot language
there is not enough time now to gather the needed 150,000 petition signatures
by the 5 p.m., May 4, 2008, deadline. Again the will of the people of Missouri,
the majority of whom do not support human embryonic cloning, is mocked by
ambitious politicians and judicial charades.
At the same time this charade of justice
was playing out in Missouri, a renowned international scientist admitted to the
public that human embryonic stem cell research hasn't been successful. Of
course, this is not news to pro-life proponents, but it is quite an
acknowledgment for a well-accepted embryonic cloning researcher to admit. On
April 8, 2008, the chairman of the UK National Stem Cell Network, Lord Patel of
Dunkeld admitted in a "Scotsman" newspaper interview that this
controversial science may never deliver new treatments for diseases. He
explained, "In terms of embryonic stem cell therapy, there is currently no
such therapy that is available in a large number of patients. We have to be
cautious. It may not deliver therapy for anything. We may find that stem
therapy is quite a risky business." (LifeNews.Com, April 8, 2008) …
Bioethics conservative watchdog Wesley J.
Smith sums it up well in his statement, "By hyping the potential, the
politicized science sector misled people to win a political debate, and in the
process reduced science to just another special interest spinning and
obfuscating to get a greater share of gruel in the public trough."
It is regrettable that the State of
Missouri is also tied up to that public embryonic stem cell trough along with
the State of California which is facing a $16 billion dollar deficit.
The
fight against human cloning in Missouri will continue and you can find out more
about it at MOCuresWithoutCloning.com.
Unfortunately,
it appears that appeals by pro-cloning forces in Missouri may not allow
signature gatherers enough time to get the proposed
cloning ban on Missouri’s 2008 ballot.
It is still possible the feat could be accomplished with determined
grassroots effort, but the fight to fully and completely ban human cloning in
Missouri will continue regardless.
LifeNews reports.
Basically,
even if iPSC did allow for easier cloning or easier creation of hybrid embryos,
it does not change the fact that iPSC is an excellent and ethical source of
pluripotent stem cells. As in many
instances, just because a scientific procedure (i.e. induced pluripotent stem
cell research) can be abused (i.e. human cloning, human-animal hybrid embryos,
etc.) does not mean that procedure is inherently unethical.
AdvanceUSA
contacted Dr. David Prentice and he concurs that recent “concerns” over iPSC
are probably attempts to create hype which undermines the significance of
ethically derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) which make human cloning and embryonic stem cell research unecessary.
The
Metro (UK) reports. Excerpt:
Paralysed [sic.] people could gain the use
of their limbs again after scientists found a 'messaging system' that could be
used to control adult stem cells.
Researchers found the cells respond to
chemical signals which instruct them to help repair tissue.
The work, funded by the Medical Research
Council, could eventually lead to the development of techniques to tell adult
stem cells to mend the body.
Scenta
(UK) also reports. Excerpt:
Avoiding many of the ethical issues
associated with embryonic stem cells, ASCs could have many therapeutic uses and
could potentially be controlled by the chemical signalling [sic.] systems
within the body that instruct cells to contribute to tissue repair.
CNN
Money reports.
Our
friend Dr. David Prentice was quoted in the piece. Excerpt:
Dave
Prentice, senior fellow for life sciences at the Christian organization Family
Research Council, opposes the use of human embryos in research. "You
shouldn't be destroying human embryos at the earlier stage of human life to
harvest cells," said Prentice, who has a PhD. in biochemistry from the University
of Kansas.
Other stem cell options are available, he said, such as harvesting them from
umbilical cord blood or adult tissue, or "reprogramming"
adult cells to behave like stem cells, as demonstrated in recently-released
but early-stage studies.
There is more encouraging news in the potential power of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) which are obtained ethically by inducing ordinary skin cells into an embryonic-like state without actually creating or destroying embryos. News of treating Parkinson’s with iPSC is especially important in light of the recent misleading media reports that cloning (SCNT) had been used to treat mice with Parkinson’s. Unlike SCNT, which would be completely unethical in humans, induced pluripotent stem cells offer an exciting and ethical alternative source of pluripotent (can become any type of tissue) stem cells for research and potential treatments.
For more information on stem cells check the stem cell page.
There
is disturbing news coming out of Britain as the Telegraph
(UK) reports. Using a process
similar to SCNT, scientists put human DNA into unfertilized cow eggs in order
to obtain mostly-human embryos for stem cell research. Tampering with human life in this way is
degrading, and the scientists’ assurances that the hybrid embryos will be destroyed
(killed) within 14 days does not provide any comfort to pro-lifers.
These
developments highlight why the Human-Animal Hybrid Prohibition Act should be
passed in the United States Senate as soon as possible.
LifeNews and Times
Online (UK) also report.
Graphic source: Telegraph
By
Daniel Herbster
When
I first read recent
media reports about research which seemed to indicate mice with Parkinson’s
disease were successfully treated using a form of cloning called somatic cell
nuclear transfer (SCNT), I was skeptical.
But even if the media reports of success were correct, it still would
not make SCNT ethical for use in humans because it would amount to cloning and
killing human beings (embryos). I wanted
get an expert opinion on the actual science behind the reports so I contacted
Dr. David Prentice whom I’ve had the privilege to hear speak and meet on
several occasions.
Reinforced
my concerns with the unethical nature of the research if it were ever tried in
humans, Dr. Prentice told me…
…the whole idea of
so-called "therapeutic cloning" is unethical on several levels. It requires creating and destroying an
embryo, a young life. It also requires a
tremendous number of eggs to make just one dish of cells, so it risks women's
health, making them factories for raw parts for the experiments.
Dr.
Prentice also mentioned three crucial points the reports neglected to point
out.
- 1 out of every 6 mice showed
"graft overgrowth". In
other words, the implanted embryonic stem cells grew too well.
- They only let the animals go for 11
weeks, so we don't know if they would have gone on to form tumors, or if
the treatment has any lasting effect.
- The technique is also already
outdated. The paper was originally
submitted in Feb 2007, long before most of the results with iPS cells
[induced pluripotent stem cells].
So the science has already passed this by, with easier, ethical,
and successful procedures.
Thank
you Dr. Prentice for sharing your expertise with us. Find out more about Dr. Prentice’s work at FRC.org and at DoNoHarm.
Dr. David Prentice
Graphic source: FRC
Click here for more
information on human cloning, and click here for more
information on embryonic stem cell research.
The
Columbia Missourian reports. Let’s
hope the Appeals Court upholds Judge Joyce’s
ruling allowing Missourians to see an
accurate summary of the proposed human cloning ban on their 2008 ballot.
Cures
Without Cloning is waiting until the court makes its decision before beginning its
signature gathering campaign to get the cloning ban amendment on the
ballot. If you live in Missouri click here to find out how you
can be a trained signature gatherer.
For
more information on human cloning click here or visit MO Cures Without Cloning.
Scientists in the U.S. believe they have been able to treat mice that have Parkinson’s disease using somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) which was the same process used to create Dolly the sheep. (Some like to euphemistically call this procedure “therapeutic cloning” but they’re only right about the “cloning” part because there is nothing “therapeutic” in the procedure for the cloned embryo.) The scientists took the nucleus from a mouse cell and inserted it into a mouse egg cell. When the resulting mouse embryo developed to a certain stage it was destroyed so its stem cells could be harvested and injected into the original mouse.
As the media breathlessly reports, some scientists are hoping this type of treatment could one day be used on humans. They neglect to point out that if this research were to be done in humans it would, in effect, amount to creating a twin of the patient (a clone) only to destroy that twin at an early stage of development (embryo) for its stem cells. Cloning humans is unethical because it would violate the rights of the cloned embryo and because it cheapens human life to the level of a commodity. We should not be wasting our time and resources pursuing research we know to be unethical.
These limited results seen in mice pale in comparison to the many exciting results coming from ethical forms of adult stem cell research. Furthermore, with the new research being done in induced pluripotent stem cells (embryonic like stem cells obtained without creating or destroying embryos) we can ethically obtain pluripotent stem cells that do not appear to risk rejection from the bodies of patients.
For more information on human cloning click here.
The
Calgary Herald reports on Leah
Telder’s success in overcoming the ravages of MS with ethical adult stem
cell transplants. Excerpts:
There she was, the Telders' youngest child,
Leah, walking towards them in the airport lobby late Monday amidst the
disembarking passengers, grinning and waving a greeting.
"That was amazing. She walked off . .
. I mean, there she was, actually walking," said Jacky of the moment.
…
"I haven't felt this good since before
I was diagnosed," she said.
She can walk on her own again and talk
without difficulty. She can make a cup of coffee -- something she hasn't been
able to do since she was 21.
And the majority of her vision has been
restored.
Leah Telder
Graphic Source: canada.com
LifeNews reports.
AdvanceUSA’s Daniel Herbster had the privilege to hear the personal reports of Amy Daniels and Jill Rosen during their visit to Washington, DC. They told how they were literally dying until they were treated with their own stem cells. Today their health has improved dramatically. They are both concerned that many people in this country will die because they cannot raise the money to travel to nations where ethical adult stem cell research is allowed or because their insurance will not cover adult stem cell transplants.
Call your representative today and urge him or her to cosponsor and vote “Yes” on the Patients First Act which instructs the Health Department to make effective and ethical adult stem cell research a high priority.
For more information on adult stem cell research click here. For information on stem cells in general click here.
NBC11 and CBS4 report
on the touching story of Dallas Hextell of Sacramento, California, a little boy
born with debilitating cerebral palsy.
Dallas has seen significant improvement
after being treated with ethical adult stem cells taken from his stored
umbilical cord blood.
The
MBC Pathway reports on the status of the proposed
constitutional amendment to fully ban human cloning in Missouri. Excerpt:
[Missouri Secretary of State] Carnahan’s
rewrite of language submitted last fall by Cures Without Cloning (CWC) was
struck down Feb. 20 by Cole County Circuit Judge Patricia Joyce under
precedents established by previous judges as insufficient or unfair. Legally it
means her work is “inadequate, especially lacking adequate power, capacity or
competence. The word ‘unfair’ means to be marked by injustice, partiality, or
deception.” In other words, according to legal precedent, she stated the
consequences of the initiative “inadequately and with bias, prejudice,
deception and/or favoritism.”
An appeal filed by people sympathetic to
the argumentation of Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures will be heard by
the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, March 26. Once all legal
appeals are exhausted, it is believed that approximately 150,000 valid
signatures would need to be collected by May 5, the deadline for getting it on
the ballot in November. Many citizens are ready to fan out all over the state
to go get the necessary signatures once elected officials and judges are
finished with their work.
“We are confident the court of appeals will
uphold the ballot summary written by the circuit court and are preparing for
that outcome,” wrote Missourians Against Human Cloning (MAHC) Executive
Director Jaci Winship in an email alert that went out to supporters in the last
week of February. “We are hopeful the appeal process will move quickly so that
our volunteer army that has been preparing for months will be able to move
forward.”
HT: Sam Lee
LifeNews reports. Excerpt:
A pro-life organization for Republicans is
calling on John McCain, who has captured enough delegates to be the party's
presidential nominee, to keep the GOP platform pro-life on abortion. The
Republican Party currently supports a human life amendment to the Constitution
to offer legal protection to unborn children.
Delegates to the Republican convention in
Minneapolis this summer will reconsider the party's 93-page platform that
opposes abortion and supports President Bush's policy against using tax dollars
to fund embryonic stem cell research.
“Students Raise
Money for Teacher’s Adult Stem-Cell Transplant”
CitizenLink
reports on this heart-warming
story.
Adult Stem Cells on
the Cutting Edge of Joint Repair and Replacement
As
Reuters reports, doctors are making great strides in joint repair and
replacement using novel biological techniques, including ethical adult stem
cell transplants. Excerpt:
Stem cell therapy could eventually
eliminate the need for joint replacement, said Einhorn, who last year performed
his first hip replacement surgery using the patient's own stem cells.
The undifferentiated, unspecialized stem
cells can morph into specialized cells with specific functions in the body.
Adult stem cells are available from a number of sources, including bone marrow
and fat.
Stem cells from a patient's own body are
being used to repair bones, ligaments, cartilage, muscle, spinal cord and
nerves.
By Daniel Herbster
I had the opportunity to speak to sophomore biology students and senior chemistry students at my high school alma mater about stem cells, cloning, and the pro-life cause. The students at Community Baptist Christian School were great, and showed genuine interest in the presentation. I'd like to thank Miss Anderson for inviting me to speak to her students and for taking these photos.
Explaining the science of human embryo development.
For more information about bioethics and life issues check the pro-life, stem cell, adult stem cell, and human cloning pages at AdvanceUSA.org or check the stem cell, adult stem cell, pro-life, abortion, and human cloning categories at AdvanceUSA Blog.
LifeNews and KETV
report. It looks like dangerous
loopholes allowing for “clone and kill” research have been removed from this
legislation in Nebraska, causing pro-life organizations to support it for fear
that something far worse would take its place.
Let’s hope Nebraska can continue to avoid following down the same road
that Missouri took
in 2006.
Overcoming MS with Adult Stem Cells
WRAL in Raleigh, NC reports on the amazing story of Barry Goudy who no longer has any symptoms of MS thanks to adult stem cell treatments. Click here to see WRAL’s video report on Barry’s story.
Barry Goudy fought his MS with adult stem cells
Graphic source: WRAL
“Medical Journal: Adult Stem Cell Research Trumps Embryonic in Helping Patients”
LifeNews and US News report. Why should we spend the hard-earned money of taxpayers on research that destroys human embryos when ethical adult stem cell therapies are show real-world results?
For more information check the stem cell page and adult stem cell page.
There is exciting new hope that Missouri voters will be able read an accurate summary of the proposed constitutional amendment to fully ban human cloning in state when they step into the voting booth in November. Most Missourians would likely oppose the cloning of human life for the purpose of destroying it for research, but anti-cloning forces must get their message out despite well funded opposition, media bias, and unfriendly state officials (as in this case). Bioethics expert Wesley J. Smith summarizes the situation:
I admit that I am pleasantly surprised. The pro cloning bias among the political elite and media in Missouri make it almost impossible to get the straight information to the people of MO about this crucial ethical issue. When a new initiative to outlaw all human cloning was filed awhile ago, the Secretary of State wrote a summary that was both inaccurate and breathtakingly biased. Well, lo and behold, a court has righted the wrong.
Also, the AP (via the Columbia Missourian) has a lengthy article explaining the situation and its implications. Click here (PDF file) to read a press release from Missouri Cures Without Cloning.
For more background information about the Missouri case and about the science of human cloning check AdvanceUSA’s human cloning page.
The
Chicago Tribune reports on how adult stem cells could help prevent many amputations. Excerpts:
A new procedure launched at the
Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago in January offers hope to patients
with critical limb ischemia (CLI), or severely blocked leg arteries.
Doctors transplanted a purified form of the
patients' own stem cells into their leg muscles to grow new, small blood
vessels and restore circulation in their legs. Two patients underwent the
procedure. They are the first subjects in a 20-site national trial.
…
Losordo said a treatment for CLI could be
available by 2012.
Adult “Stem Cell Treatment Attracts Thousands”
ABC News reports (in a very balanced fashion) on the visible results Paul Flynn has achieved from the adult stem cell therapies he received in China. Excerpt:
Using stem cells harvested from umbilical cord blood (UCB), Hu said his company has treated over 2,000 patients since 2005. They claim an 85 percent rate of improvement in a variety of conditions, from spinal cord injuries to autism.
…
"Little things like that. I can jump now, which I couldn't jump earlier. I can jump now, little frog hops, which requires all the contraction and releasing and coordination of all of your leg muscles all at once. So, just little things like that. Squatting, I can squat a little better now without falling over."
His wife, Teresa, has also taken note. "I've noticed a lot of improvement in his walk, his speech, his overall sense of well being," she said.
Unfortunately, many of the results in China have not been submitted for official scientific review, but personal testimonials like Paul’s definitely merit careful consideration.
Paul Flynn with his son Michael in China
Graphic source: ABC News
“Ethical Method of Creating Embryonic-Like Stem Cells Overcomes More Hurdles”
Scientists report that the embryonic-like induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC), which can be obtained ethically from ordinary skin cells, can be used for treatment without causing tumors. One of the chief faults with using normal embryonic stem cells (besides the fact that they require the destruction or endangerment of human embryos) is that they often form tumors. Once again, ethical stem cell research shows the greater promise of actually achieving treatments and cures. LifeNews also reports.
“Racehorse Wins after Pioneering [Adult] Stem Cell Treatment”
Horse lovers, pro-lifers, and medical junkies will be fascinated to learn that adult stem cell treatments are even producing real results in the animal kingdom. Excerpt:
Pioneering stem cell treatment has enabled British steeplechaser Knowhere to come back from severe injuries to win Cheltenham's Gold Cup Trial last week.
Graphic source: horsetalk.co.nz
“UCLA Adult Stem Cell Speech”
Michael Webster shares his success story from having used adult stem cell treatments.
“Stem Cell Storage Turns to Menstrual Source”
The Chicago Tribune reports. Excerpt:
Some call it a curse, some an inconvenience, and some even think of it as a feminine privilege, joining them with the cycles of nature.
Now a Florida firm wants women to think of their monthly period as a precious chance to gather stem cells that could later prove a lifesaver to them or their families.
- Studies in Australia show that adult stem cells are accomplishing incredible results in repairing fractured bones.
- The Temple Telegram has a great biographical piece on Dr. Darwin Prockop who “has been researching adult stem cells for 18 years and yet maintains a sense of wonder about his work.” Dr. Prockop is doing great work, and it is refreshing to hear his expert and honest assessment of the enormous potential of ethical adult stem cell research and of the difficulties and problems associated with embryonic stem cell research. This piece is an exciting read for those interested in the amazing medicinal potential of ethical forms of stem cell research. Excerpt:
There have been no reports of any patient trials using embryonic stem cells, he said.
“There have been some major technological problems,” Prockop said. “One thing is they form tumors in animals that look like the beginnings of cancer and nobody quite knows how to get around this problem.”
Dr. Prockop at work
Graphic source: Temple Telegraph
For more information on adult stem cell successes click here. Or check the stem cell page.
The Daily Breeze reports. Excerpt:
Researchers at UCLA have become the first
in the state to successfully create skin cells that can be used to treat a
number of fatal or debilitating conditions without the use of human embryos or
eggs.
HT:
Sam Lee
Ken
Connor writes a helpful
piece at Townhall.com in which he praises President Bush’s bold proposal of
a cloning ban in his recent State of the Union address and also highlights the
recent breakthrough in obtaining embryonic-like pluripotent stem cells from
ordinary skin cells.
We’ve seen some exciting news in the area of ethical adult stem cell research (which does not destroy or endanger human embryos).
- Reuters reports that a 65-year old man received a new upper jaw which was derived from stem cells from his own body. This spectacular operation shows the enormous potential of regenerative medicine apart from life-endangering forms like embryonic stem cell research and human cloning. Excerpt from Reuters:
Scientists in Finland said they had replaced a 65-year-old patient's upper jaw with a bone transplant cultivated from stem cells isolated from his own fatty tissue and grown inside his abdomen.
- The Telegraph (UK) reports that two-year old toddler Sorrel Mason’s life was saved by umbilical cord stem cells donated by a Japanese mother which had been frozen and shipped to the UK. This is another instance of ethically obtained adult stem cells showing life-saving results. Fox News reports here. Excerpt from the Telegraph:
Sorrel's mother described the bone marrow transplant carried out at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children as a "miracle".
"Sorrel would be dead now if she had been left untreated," said Samantha Mason, from Great Wratting, Suffolk, who runs a garden centre with her husband, Robert.
Sorrel Mason: two-year old cancer survivor and adult stem cell recipient
Graphic source: Telegraph (UK)
For more information about the breakthroughs in ethical adult stem cell research click here. To learn more about the stem cell issue check the AdvanceUSA stem cell page and human cloning page.
Pro-human
cloning forces often resort to distorting the terms of the debate in order to
advance their cause. The cloning battle
in Missouri provides many examples.
Missourinet reports on the attempt
to correct the inaccurate ballot summary language
issued by the Missouri Secretary of State.
Unless fixed, the current summary language totally distorts what the
proposed amendment to completely (and truly) ban human cloning would actually
do.
For
more news and information on the cloning battle in Missouri (and to read
the text of the actual amendment) click here.
 Attempting to prevent the creation of hybrid human-animal embryos (or chimeras), Senators Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Mary Landrieu (D-LA) have proposed legislation to ban this blurring of the sanctity of human life. The legislation is S. 2358, the Human-Animal Hybrid Prohibition Act of 2007 (read full text here). Hopefully, this forward-thinking legislation can be passed before this outrageous tampering with the meaning of being human becomes a prominent issue in the United States. Call both your senators and urge them to cosponsor and vote “Yes” on S. 2358, the Human-Animal Hybrid Prohibition Act!
 Paul Greenberg at Townhall writes about the recent iPSC breakthrough that allows researchers to obtain embryonic-like pluripotent stem cells from ordinary skin cells without creating or harming human embryos. Unfortunately, as Greenberg shows us, the push for unethical research that threatens tiny human life will continue. Excerpts:
It was heralded as not just a scientific but an ethical breakthrough:
Scientists in this country and Japan had found a new way to produce what are in effect embryonic stem cells - but without having to destroy human embryos to do so.
…
You may remember Ian Wilmut, the Scottish researcher who helped clone Dolly the sheep years ago. He was at least as enthusiastic. He announced he would abandon his efforts to clone - and then destroy - human embryos in order to produce stem cells, and would switch to the new, less politically and ethically troublesome method.
…
Anyone of even passing familiarity with the endless demands of human ambition for fame and/or fortune - the Greeks called it Hubris - will not be surprised to learn that the latest discovery has scarcely discouraged those eager to experiment with human embryos.
Read the entire article here.
 Last night President Bush delivered his final State of the Union address to a combined gathering of both houses of Congress. His speech touched on a number of important pro-life, pro-family, and religious liberty issues.
The president threw down the gauntlet on stem cell research, telling Congress that we must continue to fund ethical research because human life must be respected. He highlighted the recent breakthrough in obtaining pluripotent stem cells from skin cells as proof that unethical research was unnecessary. The President championed the role of faith-based organizations in providing services and changing lives far more effectively than government alone can do. He called on Congress to allow more flexibility and local control for schools under the No Child Left Behind Act. He also encouraged Congress to maintain “charitable choice” provisions in federal law which protect the religious hiring rights of faith-based organizations (ex: allowing a Catholic charity to hire only Catholics who share that organization’s mission and standards).
The White House website has provided the text of the president’s address along with video links that allow you to watch the address. To read a helpful fact sheet provided by the administration about the agenda outlined in the president’s speech click here. To read helpful summaries of the various topics see below:
The
Morning Sun reports on the progress that Todd Alwood of Mt. Pleasant, MI
is seeing trying to walk again using adult stem cell injections.
Excerpts:
The accident fractured three vertebrae, leaving him as a
quadriplegic and confined to a wheelchair.
He was paralyzed from the chest down. He can move his arms
but has little feeling.
…
…doctors conducted extensive tests, then gave him a series
of shots that made his bone marrow produce an abundance of stem cells. They
were then drawn from Alwoods blood and separated by a special machine.
…
He's already seen some improvement in controlling his
torso and balance. Alwood can now lean froward [sic] and push himself back up,
something he couldn't do before the treatments.
He can also lean from side to side.
"My trunk muscles are starting to come back,"
Alwood said.
…
His ultimate goal is to someday walk again. He is
encouraged by the results and the stories he has heard from others who have
received similar treatment but Alwood isn't sure he can afford any more trips
to Russia
following the one in March.
The
entire article is very encouraging. Read it
here.
Reuters
reports. Excerpt:
After
most scientists had given up the search, a Belgian team said on Thursday they
found elusive pancreatic stem cells in adult mice, a finding that could lead to
treatments for people with type-1 diabetes.
 Bruce R. Williams, a family physician in Blue Springs, Missouri, shares in a recent op-ed piece how the recent breakthrough with induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) affects the current battle over human cloning in Missouri. He shows how this new research, which derives embryonic-like pluripotent stem cells from ordinary skin cells without creating or harming human eggs or embryos, makes the push for human cloning totally unnecessary.
Excerpts:
The new method, referred to as “direct reprogramming” allows researchers to use skin cells to reproduce stem cells believed to be identical to those that were previously taken from human embryos. No cloning. No destruction of human life. No ethical controversy.
How big is this breakthrough? The scientist who created Dolly the cloned sheep, Ian Wilmut, has already announced he is abandoning cloning research in favor of the new method. Wilmut believes this new method holds more promise for finding treatments, including treating strokes, heart attacks, Parkinson’s and other diseases.
…
The Missouri Cures Without Cloning initiative seeks to prohibit the unnecessary research. It would ensure that human cloning is prohibited within the state of Missouri.
While this new scientific breakthrough holds the promise to new treatments for diseases including diabetes and Parkinson’s, why do some continue their battle to support human cloning?
The time has come to say no to human cloning in Missouri.
For more information on human cloning check out the AdvanceUSA human cloning/Missouri page or check the Missouri Cures Without Cloning website.
The International Herald Tribune reports on a reported case of human embryo cloning. To watch an MSNBC video report of this story click here. Excerpts from IHT:
Scientists in California say they have produced embryos that are clones of two men...
…
The process "involves creating human lives in the laboratory solely to destroy them for alleged benefit to others," said Richard Doerflinger, spokesman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Citing the earlier work in Britain, he also said that as a scientific advancement, the new work was "very limited."
Other objections to cloning include concerns about health risks and exploitation if large numbers of women are asked to provide eggs.
Those objections are one reason that an alternative route to stem cells made headlines last November. Scientists reported a relatively simple way to turn skin cells directly into stem cells.
In other bioethics news, the Times Online reports that the House of Lords in the UK has approved research that creates human-animal hybrid embryos (human-animal cloning). LifeNews reports here.
For more information on these critical bioethics issues check the AdvanceUSA stem cell page, human cloning page, or adult stem cell page.
UPDATE: The plot thickens. The Daily Mail reports that the
cloning scientists actually cloned themselves.
Our
friends at FRC report on this exciting
breakthrough in ethical adult stem cell research. Once again, ethical alternatives belie the
notion that embryonic stem cells are a necessary avenue of research that should
be supported with taxpayer dollars.
Excerpt:
[In a recent] online issue of Nature Medicine, scientists
from the University
of Minnesota announced
that using ethical alternatives, their research has resulted in the successful
creation of a beating rat heart. As part of the tests, the team hollowed out a
rat heart of its cells, leaving only the network of tubes where the old blood
vessels had been. Scientists seeded the heart's casing with non-embryonic cells
and watched as they latched onto the old framework and grew new heart tissue.
Within eight days the rat heart began pumping so well that its beating could be
easily seen. Dr. Doris Taylor, who led the research, said that while the team is
not ready to replicate the tests in humans, it could be less than a decade away
from attempting heart transplant trials in patients. "With modifications,
scientists should be able to grow a human heart by taking stem cells from a
patient's bone marrow and placing them in a cadaver heart that has been
prepared as a scaffold," Dr. Taylor said.
HT: FRC
According to Dr. David Prentice, the answer is “no.”
LifeNews reports that the cloning company is claiming it produced ethical embryonic stem cells by extracting one cell from a multi-celled embryo. The company made similar claims earlier this year while neglecting to reveal that all the embryos used in the research died. Now they apparently expect us to “trust them.” Excerpt:
… Dr. David Prentice of the Family Research Council told LifeNews.com that ACT's process "still does not meet the ethical threshhold" because "there is significant risk of harm to the embryo by this technique."
Prentice, a former biology professor at Indiana State University, said Lanza's company continues to mislead the media with claims that the process doesn't harm unborn children.
"Not all of Lanza's embryos survived, and those that did were not followed to birth, but only for a few days and then they were frozen," he said. "[Several] recent studies, including in the New England Journal of Medicine, have indicated that there is indeed risk of harm to the embryo."
Even if they do manage to extract stem cells from a particular embryo some day without killing it, the endangerment of human life inherent in the procedure is enough to label the research “unethical.” Considering the amazing new breakthroughs in obtaining embryonic-like stem cells from ordinary skin cells (iPSC), there is no reason to destroy or in this case endanger innocent human embryos. For more information, check the AdvanceUSA stem cell page.
The Daily
Mail reports on this outrageous
example of reducing human life to the status of a commodity. Excerpt:
Women are being given cut-price fertility treatment if
they donate eggs for controversial cloning research.
Those taking part in the taxpayer-funded scheme receive
half-price IVF treatment in return for giving half their eggs to scientists
working on human cloning.
Count
AdvanceUSA as one of the “critics” mentioned below as we share these concerns.
But critics say it reduces the sanctity of human life to
nothing more than the barter of body parts - and accused the researchers of
taking advantage of women when they are at their most vulnerable.
Here are
the two key problems with paying women for their eggs:
- the cheapening/destruction of
human life
- the exploitation of women
(dangerous procedures for benefits)
 No, AdvanceUSA has not become a Star Wars fan site, but we are concerned about the multi-part battle over human cloning going on in Missouri and its implications for the sanctity of human life. Here are two important items relating to this issue.
Bruce R. Williams, a Missouri physician, has written an important op-ed piece entitled “Human Cloning's Curtain Call” in which he explains how recent scientific breakthroughs make the quest for human cloning and embryonic stem cell research totally unnecessary. Now that scientists can obtain induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) from regular skin cells that have been coaxed into an embryonic-like state, the major argument for cloning human embryos for research is completely obliterated. It is also important for citizens to hear from people they trust (like doctors and scientists) who understand the science of the issue but also oppose violating ethical standards by using and destroying human life like a commodity. To hear about other scientists, doctors, and ethicists who oppose human cloning check out the Missouri Cures Without Cloning website.
Noted writer, lawyer, and bioethicist Wesley J. Smith responds to a recent column by cloning promoter Donn Rubin. Smith often exposes the distortions and outright deceptions frequently employed by the pro-cloning “Coalition for Life Saving Cures” and his latest piece, “The Mendacity of Missouri Coalition for Life Saving Cures”, calls Rubin to task for downplaying the significance of the recent breakthrough in ethical stem cell research, iPSC (induced pluripotent stem cells).
Check out AdvanceUSA’s human cloning page for more cloning information and news from Missouri.
LifeNews reports. Excerpt:
Statisticians at Virginia Commonwealth
University have released
the results of their annual poll in scientific research and found that more
Americans favor non-embryonic stem cell research than the kind that destroys
human life. The poll also finds that Americans are strongly opposed to human
cloning.
Ryan
Anderson, in a post at First Things, exposes media
distortion of the recent ethical stem cell breakthrough in the New York
Times. He also shares this excellent quote from Japanese stem cell
researcher Dr. Shinya Yamanaka.
“When I saw the embryo, I suddenly realized there was such
a small difference between it and my daughters,” said Dr. Yamanaka, 45, a
father of two and now a professor at the Institute for Integrated Cell-Material
Sciences at Kyoto
University. “I thought,
we can’t keep destroying embryos for our research. There must be another way.”
HT: Best
of the Web Today
KWMU
reports. Excerpt:
"Somatic
cell nuclear transfer is the process for cloning, and if you somatic cell
nuclear transfer with a human, which has not viably been done, then that's human
cloning," said Winship. "And human cloning in any avenue for any purpose is
wrong," she adds.
Winship
and her group are trying to fill that loophole by putting another question on
the November 2008 ballot. And they're using this latest development to prove
that SCNT is no longer necessary.
Unlike many of their counterparts in the Main Stream Media (MSM), the people at the Chicago Tribune apparently paid attention in high school biology class (free subscription required). The paper reports on a campaign across the country, and specifically in Colorado, to recognize the personhood of human embryos. Many MSM sources often misrepresent these campaigns as seeking to “give rights to fertilized eggs” (as AdvanceUSA previously reported). As all good biology teachers will tell you, once an egg is fertilized it ceases to be just an egg and becomes a singled celled human being (a zygote which subsequently develops into an embryo). Recognizing that human life begins at the moment of fertilization would be a huge victory for the pro-life movement, and AdvanceUSA applauds the efforts of Coloradans and others who are attempting to protect the smallest and most vulnerable among us.
Last week AdvanceUSA posted two articles about the amazing scientific breakthrough that indicates skin cells can be made to assume an embryonic-like state so that pluripotent stem cells can be obtained without harming human embryos or harvesting human eggs. Two recent columns, one by Rich Lowry at National Review and another by Joseph Bottum in the Wall Street Journal, further spotlight the exciting implications of this discovery for science and the pro-life movement.
For more information on this issue check our stem cell and adult stem cell pages.
Research
published yesterday by Japanese and American scientists shows that pluripotent
stem cells can be derived from adult skin cells. This breakthrough could make unnecessary
research that harms embryos and endangers women because human eggs and embryos
would no longer be needed to obtain pluripotent stem cells (i.e. stem cells
that can become any tissue type). Once
again, the science supports ethical alternatives to embryonic stem cell
research. Excerpt of a Baltimore
Sun article:
Yesterday's announcements raise the possibility that cells
taken from sick patients could be reprogrammed and used to repair tissues
damaged by heart disease, diabetes and other illnesses.
The technique, achieved earlier this year in mice, holds
two potential advantages. Because cells would originate with a patient's own
body, they wouldn't be likely to trigger rejection once they are transplanted
back.
But scientists said they were just as enthusiastic that
the method, if it clears technical hurdles ahead, could sidestep moral
objections over techniques involving cloning, the use of donated eggs or the
destruction of human embryos.
Father Thomas
Berg, writing at NRO, explains
the implications of this development declaring “a new day has dawned in the
world of stem-cell research.”
As the BBC reports, it appears Professor Ian Wilmut has finally faced the fact that the successes of ethical stem cell research indicate that human cloning is totally unnecessary. The professor makes clear his concerns are purely pragmatic as he does not share the ethical concerns of the pro-life community. The Telegraph also reports here.
Hopefully the human cloning promoters in Missouri will take notice.
Click here for more information on human cloning.
In what
is either an example of scientific ignorance or intentional distortion, the
main stream media seems intent on portraying Colorado’s proposed ballot initiative as
seeking to give rights to “human eggs” or “fertilized eggs.” As the New
York Times reports (distorts):
A proposed amendment to the Colorado Constitution that
would give legal rights to fertilized human eggs may be headed for the ballot
next year, raising the prospect of a heated local debate over abortion…
And from
the Associated
Press:
The Colorado Supreme Court cleared the way Tuesday for an
anti-abortion group to collect signatures for a ballot measure that would
define a fertilized egg as a person.
What the
New York Times and other media outlets apparently fail to understand is that
when a human egg is fertilized (naturally or in a lab) what results is no
longer an egg but an individual human embryo (a zygote to be scientifically specific).
This embryo is a separate human life which should benefit from all inalienable
human rights, and that is exactly what the proposed Colorado constitutional amendment would
do. To call an embryo a “fertilized egg” is like calling a newborn child
a “fetus outside the womb.”
It seems
very ironic that even though religious conservatives are accused of being scientifically
ignorant, it is actually the media that gets its science wrong.
For more
information on stem cells, human cloning,
and the amazing results coming from ethical adult stem cell research
check AdvanceUSA.org.
The
Telegraph reports that for the first time scientists
have successfully cloned monkeys. The
ability to clone primate embryos indicates that the unethical cloning of human
embryos for research is a real possibility. Once again, scientists have
shown what is possible. It is now up to mankind as a whole to demand what
is ethical. Do we believe that human lives can be used for scientific
experimentation, or do we believe science should be subservient to ethics?
As
another UK
paper, the Independent, reports:
A technical breakthrough has enabled scientists to create
for the first time dozens of cloned embryos from adult monkeys, raising the
prospect of the same procedure being used to make cloned human embryos.
For more
information on human cloning click here.
 Some couples
unable to have children naturally are choosing to adopt unwanted IVF embryos
(snowflakes). The Columbia Missourian reports on the case of Chad
and Tanya Tatro and others who chose embryo adoption because of their religious
convictions. Their stories belie the oft repeated excuse by embryonic
stem cell proponents that “leftover embryo will only be discarded if we don’t
use them for research.” Note: The graphic to the left is an actual
photograph of the Tatro’s adopted embryos. Excerpt from story:
Embryo adoption is a growing phenomenon, especially among
Christians whose faith has put them in the middle of the debates over abortion
and stem-cell research. For people like the Tatros, this relatively new,
controversial form of adoption is as much a moral issue as it is a personal
decision. Moreover, many conservative Christians are re-focusing their energy
on the culture wars in a way that emphasizes adoption and foster care as part
of a solution. Embryo adoption is an option created by the explosion of in
vitro fertilization, which often results in embryos that are subsequently
destroyed or donated to stem-cell researchers. Stoddart, the executive director
of California-based Nightlight Christian Adoptions, established Snowflakes in
1997 to give leftover frozen embryos a chance at life. A year later, the first
stem cells were extracted from a human embryo, and Stoddart said the new
science and the ethical debate it has generated have helped his business. “If
it weren’t for that, trying to get the word out would be much harder,” he said.
“Embryo adoption is more relevant when juxtaposed to the embryonic stem-cell
debate.”
Embryo
adoption raises a number of legal questions which are discussed in another
article in the Columbia Missourian.
Check out
the Snowflakes website
to find out more about this exciting program. Click here for more
information on stem cell research.
In an insightful piece entitled “Two
forces combined to blindside stem cell champions” Susan K. Livio explains
how social conservatives and fiscal conservatives united to defeat the recent
New Jersey ballot initiative that would have spent hundreds of millions of tax
dollars on unethical embryonic stem cell research. Here’s hoping the
strong union of so-cons and fiscal-cons will be maintained around the
country. Excerpt from the Star-Ledger:
With polls reporting wide support for stem cell research
and expectations that low voter turnout would help them, proponents of a $450
million bond thought they had reason to be optimistic about Tuesday's
referendum.
But these and other miscalculations helped doom the
measure, political scientists, conservatives and elected officials said
yesterday. Supporters failed to grasp an unintentional alliance of two forces:
public discontent with the state's borrowing, and the work of conservatives and
religious leaders who opposed the ballot question's passage.
Unfortunately,
as LifeNews reports, the proponents of spending tax-payers’ dollars on unethical and unproven research will
continue despite the clear demonstration of
the will of the people of New
Jersey.
A USA
Today story reports on the successes of
using adult stem cell injections to treat damaged or diseased hearts.
The article tries to downplay the progress but cannot deny that adult stem
cells have shown real benefits while unethical embryonic stem cell research
promises only theoretical benefits.
Some
scientists would have you believe that we need to experiment on human embryos
in order to study diseases and how to treat them. But as the BBC reports,
scientists in the UK
are learning about the development of a serious, commonly occurring bone cancer
which often afflicts children by studying stem cell
development in dogs.
For more
information click here.
As reported earlier some pro-cloning members of the media have taken to utilizing the euphemistic “early stem cells” instead of the scientifically accurate term “embryonic stem cells” in an effort to mislead the public into thinking this type of research does not destroy human embryos. Wesley J. Smith has some insightful commentary in which he observes that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) does not recognize the term “early stem cell” and challenges the Kansas City Star (and reporter Kit Wagar in particular) to use scientifically accurate terms.
He also notes that the NIH clearly defines Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT) as a type of cloning, unlike what many in Missouri’s pro-cloning movement would have people believe.
For more information on the latest efforts to truly and fully ban all forms of human cloning in Missouri check AdvanceUSA’s Missouri cloning page or visit Cures Without Cloning.
Sen. Tom
Harkin (D-IA) and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) have removed the language from the
Labor-HHS Appropriations bill that would have expanded human embryo stem cell
experimentation. The language which was removed would have changed the
cut-off date for utilizing embryonic stem cell lines for research from August 9,
2001 to June 15, 2007.
For more
information on stem cells click here or here.
The
Washington Post reports that the director of the National Institutes of Health,
Elias A. Zerhouni, advocates
expanding
unethical embryonic stem cell research despite the fact that
President Bush has instituted ethical guidelines withholding tax-payer funds
from supporting such research.
Welsey J. Smith reports on this example of anti-life, liberal spin.
Some pro-cloning reporters and publications in Missouri (and elsewhere) have taken to referring to embryonic stem cells as “early stem cells” in an effort to deceive the public. Slowly but surely the general public is realizing that embryonic stem cell research destroys or endangers tiny human lives. Using the euphemism “early” instead of the established scientific term “embryonic” is a desperate attempt to hide that fact.
For more information on the cloning issue in Missouri click here or check the other blog posts in the Missouri category. For more information on stem cells and cloning click here.
After narrowly losing a fight against a so-called “cloning ban” on the state-wide ballot last year, anti-cloning forces in Missouri have begun the effort to close the glaring loopholes and truly prohibit all forms of human cloning. The proponents of the new constitutional amendment to completely ban human cloning have to gather 139,181 - 151,619 signatures to get the measure on the 2008 ballot.
Their efforts hit a snag yesterday when the Secretary of State of Missouri (Robin Carnahan) released the official ballot summary which reads like an opposition talking point. Understandably anti-cloning groups charge the language is unfair and deceptive. To read the text of the ballot summary click here or continue reading.
Excerpt from Columbia Tribune blog post:
Curt Mercadante, a spokesman for Cures Without Cloning, said the language “in no way accurately reflects what we’re attempting to do.”
“Quite honestly, it sounds like a talking point out of an opposition group’s playbook,” Mercadante said. “What the amendment is attempting to do is very simple: attempting to prohibit all human cloning in the state of Missouri.”
Despite exaggerated claims of the potential of embryonic stem cell research, one disabled Missourian is speaking out against unethical research and supporting the efforts of Cures Without Cloning to truly ban human cloning in Missouri.
Excerpt:
"No matter what potential good may come of it, you know, you can't create and destroy human life for research," said Chelsea Zimmerman from Cures Without Cloning. "It's just wrong."
A car accident nearly eight years ago left Zimmerman in a wheelchair, but this did not change her view of embryonic stem cell research.
"Obviously, I would love to walk again, I would love to see other people out of their suffering," Zimmerman said. "We aren't trying to limit research, and we are in favor of cures, and there are cures and treatments happening with adult stem cells and adult stem cell research."
For more information visit Cures Without Cloning or the AdvanceUSA Missouri/Human Cloning page.
UPDATES:
Text of deceptive ballot summary below:
Even
though Israel has no restrictions on embryonic stem cell research the Israeli
company has decided to invest only in adult stem cells for practical reasons
in its mission to provide treatment for neurological disorders such as Lou
Gehrig's disease and Parkinson's.
Reuters
Excerpt:
Ironically, in the Jewish state of Israel embryonic stem cell research
is less controversial, noted BrainStorm's ultra-orthodox president, Chaim
Lebovits.
Still, the company said it has decided to concentrate on
adult stem cells because they are also easier to control than embryonic cells,
which can give rise to tumours.
“…Dr. Glasser did not have feeling
in his feet before the transplant and now he has feeling in his feet again,
possibly indicating that his peripheral polyneuropathy is improving as well.”
- Ewa Carrier, M.D.
A
debilitating muscle disease that can cause lameness and suffocation is being treated
with adult stem cells in groundbreaking research conducted by The Bone
Marrow Transplant Program at University
of California, San Diego Medical
Center. A
description of the disease is as follows:
Myasthenia Gravis (MG) is a rare neuromuscular autoimmune
disease where the body’s immune system, which normally protects the body,
mistakenly attacks itself. The transmission of nerve impulses to muscles
is interrupted, which ultimately prevents the muscles from contracting.
Without the proper nerve impulses, muscles that control breathing can’t
function.
Here’s a description
of how the ethical adult stem cell therapy works:
This new procedure reprograms the patient’s stem cells,
destroying them with chemotherapy, before re-introducing purified blood-forming
stem cells. After the transplant, the modified stem cells build new bone
marrow, renewing the immune system with correct signaling, renewing the immune
system with cells that don’t attack the body.
For more
information on the successes of ethical adult stem cell research click here.
LifeNews
reports on the British government’s recent
decision to allow several forms of unethical research.
The British government has caved in to pressure from
scientists there and announced it is backing a revised bill in parliament for
human-animal hybrids, or chimeras. The creation of part-human, part-animal
embryos has pro-life advocates upset as they say it's another step in the
devaluation of human life.
As if
creating human chimera embryos for the sole purpose of killing them for their
stem cells weren’t enough LifeNews continues:
The bill also allows the creation of so-called
"savior siblings" for serious illnesses and not just life-threatening
ones. In addition to taking embryonic stem cells from the human being, the bill
would allow scientists to harvest organs and take "other types of tissue
and cells."
The
Boston Globe reports that a health
panel appointed by Gov. Patrick is seeking to overturn the important stem cell
guidelines former Gov. Mitt Romney instituted to prevent tax-funded unethical
research on human embryos.
Excerpt:
Kris Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family
Institute, said removing the regulations put in place under Romney would open
up a "Pandora's box of creating human embryos in laboratory conditions on
a wide-scale production."
"We need safeguards against the rampant exploitation
of human life," he said. "Harvesting eggs from women is an
exploitation of women and creating human embryos for the sole purpose of
destroying them is an exploitation of human life."
UPDATE: It’s official. As CitizenLink and LifeNews report the health
panel in Massachusetts
has overturned former Governor Romney’s ethical guidelines preventing the
creation of embryos for destructive research.
Excerpt
from LifeNews report:
The Nobel prize committed mentioned embryonic stem cell
research in their citation to the scientists and said, they had discovered
"principles for introducing specific gene modification in mice by the use
of embryonic stem cells."
However, the science behind treating humans with embryonic
stem cells and the work the scientists did is very different and embryonic stem
cell treatments, if they're ever produced, could be decades away because of
various problems such as rejection by a patient's immune system.
Adult stem cells have not had those problems and have
already treated patients with dozens of diseases and medical conditions.
 Though she suffers from multiple sclerosis, the wife of presidential candidate Mitt Romney Ann Romney does not support embryonic stem cell research. She instead chooses to stress the exciting results coming from ethical adult stem cell research while emphasizing the need for clear ethical lines to be drawn in scientific research. Ann Romney hopes her new website (just unveiled today) will be used to raise awareness of MS while also providing a forum for other things she cares about like recipe swapping and her husband’s campaign. Kathryn Jean Lopez today writes about Ann Romney’s efforts fighting MS at National Review Online. AdvanceUSA applauds Ann’s courage in supporting innocent human life despite the suggestions from some that unethical research could one day be used to treat her serious medical condition.
For more information on stem cell research check the AdvanceUSA stem cell page and adult stem cell page.
LifeNews article excerpt:
A New Jersey
court will hold an initial hearing on Monday on a lawsuit pro-life advocates have filed to stop a bill that would make taxpayers
fund embryonic stem cell research. They are challenging the bill Gov. Jon
Corzine signed asking voters to approve borrowing $450 million to fund grants
over the next 10 years. The lawsuit says the bill fails to disclose that
the money will also pay for human cloning.
For the
rest of the story click here.
 Many supporters of human cloning would have us believe that it is totally harmless. This New York Times pieces reveals that cloning scientists are having a hard time recruiting women to donate their eggs because of the dangers and discomforts of egg harvesting procedures. This has resulted in the increased demand for human/animal hybrid embryos (called chimeras) in order to make up for the lack of human eggs. When human life begins to be looked upon as a commodity for the use of others, such unethical procedures will be increasingly in demand.
The
Bluefield Daily Telegraph reports on the encouraging
story of Dixie Sisk who after years of agonizing cancer treatment for her
multiple myeloma finally resorted to adult stem cell therapy. Unlike
embryonic stem cell research (which requires the destruction of human embryos
and has not met with clinical success in medical treatments) adult stem cell
research is ethical and has frequently shown real-world results.
Excerpt:
Dixie Sisk was almost 70 when she
became a new woman.
After fighting cancer for 11 years, enduring 89 radiation
treatments and surviving repeated rounds of chemotherapy, the Mercer County
mother and grandmother decided it was time to try a controversial, cutting-edge
treatment that could give her a chance at living cancer-free.
Doctors were skeptical of her chance for success, but Sisk
agreed to a stem cell transplant in hopes of seeing her grandchildren grow up.
“I’ve got two grandsons, a 6-year-old and a 14-year-old.
When I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, all the doctors said they could
give me was a band-aid. A band-aid doesn’t cover much,” she said.
Her cells were harvested from her own body, so Sisk never
had to wait for a match or worry whether federal guidelines would allow
research on the line of cells she needed.
For more
exciting stories of adult stem cell successes check the AdvanceUSA adult stem cell page.
Deutsche Welle
reports:
Cardiologists at Düsseldorf University
Hospital said they have been
the first in the world to use [adult] stem cell therapy to save a patient who
suffered from a severe heart attack.
From the NIH
website:
National
Institutes of Health (NIH) announced today that it will begin implementing
President Bush's Executive Order to explore methods to expand the number of
approved pluripotent stem cell lines "without creating a human embryo for
research purposes or destroying, discarding, or subjecting to harm a human
embryo or fetus."
AdvanceUSA applauds the pursuit of
cures and treatments from ethical and effective adult stem cells which have
shown much better results than the unethical and uncontrollable kind derived
from destroyed human embryos.
A doctor
who specializes in spinal cord injuries has come out in support of Missouri’s “Cures
Without Cloning” ballot initiative to fully ban human cloning in the
state’s constitution. Excerpt:
Those
who allege human cloning is necessary in the pursuit of these cures and
treatments are providing false hope.
The
Cures Without Cloning initiative would only prohibit research involving human
cloning - nothing more, nothing less. There are plenty of promising research
methods, including many forms of stem-cell research, that do not involve human
cloning.
For more
information on this important pro-life cause in Missouri check the Cures Without Cloning website
or the AdvanceUSA human cloning page.
As
frequent readers at AdvanceUSA can attest it’s hard to keep up all the exciting
developments in ethical adult stem cell research. Here’s a couple
more:
1.
Several sports teams in Australia
are considering storing
their players’ adult stem cells as an insurance policy against lengthy or
debilitating
injuries. Below is an excerpt from the AFP news
story:
Stem cells would be taken from bone marrow in the player's
spine in a half-hour procedure under a local anaesthetic and then grown in a
laboratory for six weeks.
Then they would be stored in a cell bank, ready to be
transplanted should injury occur.
Stem cells are cells that can develop into various types
of body tissues and are a major focus of current medical research, potentially
revolutionising transplants and other areas of surgery.
The hope is that cells taken from the patient's own body
would not face rejection by the immune system, which can happen with
transplants from other people.
2. David
Traub’s cardiologist was extremely skeptical of David traveling to Bangkok to receive heart
injections of his own adult stem cells, and the specialist even warned him that
he might not survive. But this “doubting Thomas” is now a true believer
in the
benefits of adult stem cell treatment. The following is an excerpt
from the Trans World News article:
David's therapy consisted of having about half a pint of
his own blood removed in Bangkok's prestigious Bangkok Heart Hospital.
This blood was flown to Theravitae's laboratory where the therapeutic stem
cells were isolated and multiplied many times before being injected directly into
the heart muscle via a small incision in the chest wall.
Not only did David survive the trip half way around the
world but he returned home to find, "The peaks were higher and the
valley's not as deep."
He still has problems due to an enlarged heart from
cardiomyopathy but he is happy to wait a while longer knowing that his heart
now has a richer blood supply compared with before stem cell treatment, so it
is working normally rather than struggling.
For more
information on adult stem cell successes check the AdvanceUSA adult stem cell page.
Last
November, a dangerous and deceptive amendment to the Missouri constitution was narrowly approved
by voters (51% - 49%). The amendment claimed to ban cloning but in fact
created a constitutional right to clone human embryos as long as they were
killed for their stem cells before 14 days of development. So cloning of
the “therapeutic” variety is actually legal in Missouri at this time.
Yesterday
morning a new amendment was proposed by the group Cures Without Cloning.
The proposed amendment would close the glaring loopholes in last year’s
amendment by clarifying the definition of cloning so that it is scientifically
accurate and so that it protects all innocent human life. The St. Louis
Post-Dispatch reports
here. Cures Without Cloning must obtain approximately 150,000
signatures in order to place the amendment on the 2008 ballot, but Missouri pro-lifers are
convinced that with the truth on their side they will see human cloning truly
banned in their state.
Some Missouri bloggers
covering this story are Rodney Albert at Press
On and the folks at Missourinet.
UPDATE:
More Missouri
bloggers will be linked here as blog posts on this issue become available:
UPDATE
2: Noted
bioethicist Wesley J. Smith exposes
an incident of media distortion regarding the new Missouri amendment on his
blog.
We can expect similar distortion from many (but not all) major news media
sources concerning the Missouri
anti-cloning movement in the days ahead.
UPDATE 3: David Freddoso at NRO has a
particularly helpful summary in his piece entitled ‘Third
Clone War: Missouri measure would repeal “right to clone”.’
For more
information on human cloning (including helpful diagrams) and the conflicts in Missouri check the
AdvanceUSA Missouri Cloning page.
Also, check the Cures Without Cloning
website.
To listen
to a recording of yesterday’s press conference click
here. To read the text of the new amendment click here
or continue reading.
 CitizenLink reports on a storage facility in San Francisco that offers to remove the embryonic stem cells from the “leftover” embryos of parents for future medical use. StemLifeLine Partners exploits health fears to entice parents into sacrificing the lives of their unborn embryos for unproven and unethical science.
“StemLifeLine is a life sciences company offering a novel service for individuals who have undergone in vitro fertilization, fulfilled their childbearing needs and now have to decide what to do with their remaining stored embryos. We can help transform these embryos into individual stem cell lines that our clients may one day use to create personalized therapies for themselves and their families.”
-StemLifeLine website
They conveniently forget to mention that embryos must be destroyed in order to “transform” them into stem cell lines. Dr. Zanga emphasizes the main argument against such practices in this quote:
“We should never be trying to or intending to take someone else’s life to make our own better”
-Dr. Joseph Zanga, professor of pediatrics at the Brody School of Medicine
The Senate will soon vote on whether our tax dollars should be used to support this kind of unethical research that destroys human embryos. For more information check the AdvanceUSA stem cell page.
A press conference yesterday in the nation’s capital highlighted the amazing success stories of patients who have been treated with their own adult stem cells and the doctors who are on the cutting edge of this exciting and ethical field of research. AdvanceUSA had the pleasure to attend this press conference (see photos below) at the National Press Club sponsored by our friends at FRC and Do No Harm.
Dr. David Prentice led the discussion in which doctors and patients explained the benefits of using adult stem cell treatments. One of the main purposes of the event was to show that there are indeed ethical and effective alternatives to research that destroys human embryos. The U.S. Senate will soon vote on whether to override or sustain President Bush’s veto of an unethical stem cell funding bill so this information is critically important. Another purpose was to raise awareness of a new bill (H.R. 2807) proposed by Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA) and Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL) which intensifies support for the ethical kinds of stem cell research already showing great promise for treatments and cures. The bill has been called “The Patients First Act," focusing attention on the fact that ethical research is already treating real people right now.
To hear a recording of the event click here. For more information on adult stem cell research click here.
See the photos and captions below to learn more about this important press conference.
Can you see the difference? Dr. Amit N. Patel, MD, MS, shows before and after pictures of heart muscle tissue that had received bone marrow stem cells from the patient’s own body in his presentation aptly named “Mending a Broken Heart.” The increased blood vessel growth is obvious. Later, Dr. Patel had the audience in rapt attention when he showed actual footage of heart surgery in which a patient received adult stem cell injections.
A mere
$15 million has been budgeted for the National Cord Blood Inventory program,
but the current Labor, Health and Human Services appropriations bill only
designates $4 million for this crucial stem cell banking system. Rep.
Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL) have proposed a bipartisan
amendment to bring the cord blood banking funding to its full level. The House will likely vote on this
important amendment this week.
Umbilical cord blood is rich in stem cells which have
already been used in treating
a number of ailments and show great promise for future research, and, unlike
embryonic stem cell research (which
requires killing human embryos), cord blood has shown these results without the
ethical controversy.
For more
information on exciting adult stem cell developments click here.
Theravitae,
a biotechnology company working in adult stem cell research, was recently awarded the title
“Biotechnology Company of the Year” for its innovative work in regenerative
heart medicine. Despite what the mainstream news media would have us
believe, adult stem cell research offers the most promise for successful
regenerative therapies.
At the
award ceremony the President of Therivitae offered these important words:
"We are honored to be a recipient of this prestigious
award and we carry the responsibility to further help the progress of
discoveries within the regenerative medicine field. Our industry is on the
verge of redefining conventional healthcare through the miracles of adult stem
cells and their remarkable ability to facilitate the regeneration of personal
health. Despite the constant questionable claims of those in the embryonic
lobby, it is adult stem cells which will be the first to successfully treat
diabetes, Parkinson's and Alzheimers - embryonic stem cell therapies lag not by
months, but by years, if not decades!"
For more
information on the exciting developments in ethical adult stem cell research click here.
“Follow
the Money”
Jennifer
Roback Morse, Ph.D. looks at one seldom-mentioned motivation for unethical stem
cell research that destroys human embryos; the money. She explains how some
proponents of embryonic stem cell research and cloning are more
interested in government subsidies rather
than treating illness or saving lives.
Exploiting
Poor Women
This blog
post by Nancy Reyes highlights the potential for the dangerous
exploitation of poor women to obtain the necessary human eggs to conduct
unethical forms of stem cell research. Egg harvesting is already big
business on many college campuses, but unfortunately the serious health risks
involved with the procedure are seldom mentioned. If proponents of
unethical stem cell research succeed in expanding this research, impoverished
women in third-world countries could be likely health victims.
More
Good News from Adult Stem Cells!
Ending on
a happy note, LifeNews reports on two encouraging developments for sufferers of
heart disease and amyloidosis. New research suggests that adult stem cells could be used to
treat these dangerous maladies.
 For more
information on these important issues check the AdvanceUSA stem cell, adult stem cell, or human cloning
pages.
Ever get
the feeling that you cannot make a difference?
Take heart from the recent pro-life
victory in Delaware. A controversial
stem cell bill in the Delaware
legislature would have provided state funds for embryo-destroying research and
would have opened the door to human cloning (a.k.a. Somatic Cell Nuclear
Transfer). The “Rose and a Prayer”
campaign of pro-life activists worked tirelessly to encourage state legislators
to oppose this unethical research. The
measure failed by a surprising 4 to 1 margin in the State Assembly even after
the State Senate heartily
approved the bill.
Links:
A Rose and a Prayer
AdvanceUSA Stem Cell Page
More
exciting news in adult stem cell research (i.e. non-embryonic).
A new
study shows adult stem cells from umbilical cord blood can
successfully treat children with type 1 diabetes. Studies like this
are continually showing how unethical research that destroys innocent human
embryos is unnecessary.
Additionally,
two Congressmen have introduced legislation to support ethical
forms of stem cell research. “The Patients First Act” (H.R. 2807) proposed by Rep. Randy Forbes
(R-VA) and Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL) Would prioritize support for such exciting
avenues of research as amniotic fluid cells and turning ordinary skins cells
into stem cells without creating or harming an embryo.
For more
information on exciting developments in ethical stem cell research click here.
US researchers announced that they have successfully extracted embryonic stem cells from cloned monkeys. Proponents of human cloning hail the development as progress toward miracle cures, but defenders of life realize that human cloning is now a clear and present danger.
CBS News
has released video
of President Bush’s remarks today as he vetoed a bill which would have
overturned his ethical stem cell guidelines thus requiring our tax dollars to
support embryo-destroying research. The President clearly explains the
fundamental moral issues involved while calling for increased funding of the
many forms of ethical stem cell research that have already begun to yield
tangible results.
NOTE:
AdvanceUSA was present for the President’s remarks at the White House.
President George W. Bush vetoed
the latest embryonic stem cell funding bill on Wednesday, June 20 as he
had promised in a recent Statement of Administration Policy. The
U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill (S. 5) on June 7 by a vote of 247
to 176, a 35-vote margin which is an improvement over the 39-vote margin in
January on a very similar bill. Our friends in Congress tell us that we are
making progress on this issue so pro-lifers should be encouraged but remain
vigilant. The Senate must now decide whether to override or sustain the
President’s veto. In the Senate a veto override requires a 2/3 majority
of those present to vote.
Pro-lifers are hopeful
that the Senate will sustain the veto, but even if the veto is upheld there are
concerns that members of Congress will try to add these unethical stem cell
funding provisions to other important legislation as
Sen. Harkin has suggested.
Embryonic stem cell
research is both immoral and unnecessary.
Unfortunately many in Congress want to spend your tax dollars on it anyway.
Proponents of the measure frequently exaggerate claims about the necessity and
usefulness of embryonic stem cells, but in addition to its highly questionable
usefulness the fundamental problem is that such research destroys human lives.
For important information on stem cell research and other bioethics issues
visit the stem cell page and adult stem cell page.
To see how your senators and representative voted on this bill check the Vote Watch page.
Now that President Bush has vetoed the legislation it will soon return to the
Senate and will only come back to the House if the Senate manages to override
the veto. Pray that this bill never becomes law and that liberals in Congress
will not try to sneak this type of unethical stem cell language into other
legislation.
Despite knowing that the Congress does not have the votes to overturn a Presidential veto of increased federal funding for embryo-destroying research, Senator Tom Harking (D-IA) still is likely to add such a stem cell provision to Senate legislation. It is a shame that when recent scientific discoveries indicate that such unethical research is unnecessary; liberals in Congress are determined to force the issue out of either misguided compassion or partisan politics.
South Korean cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk has said he intends to continue his unethical research abroad. Hwang had been famous for advocating embryo research and cloning by promising “miracle cures” to desperate patients. Last year Hwang was embroiled in controversy when it became clear his research team had blatantly falsified data showing they had successfully cloned a human embryo. He was subsequently fired in disgrace.
For more information on the history of the Hwang scandal and how it reflects on the overall ethics problems of human cloning research check the stem cell page.
During the recent debate over S. 5 in the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi tried to appeal to religious sentiment by calling embryonic stem cells “a gift from God.” Somehow the deliberate destruction of innocent human life does not strike us as something God desires.
Embryonic stem cell
research should be abandoned for both ethical and practical reasons. But
those determined to proceed with the research must now admit that embryonic-like
stem cells can be produced without creating or destroying
human embryos. Recent research shows that ordinary adult cells can be
coaxed into forming embryonic-like stem cells. This is exciting new
research and yet more evidence that embryo-destroying research is totally
unnecessary.
For more news and information on stem cells click here.
The U.S. House of Representatives will likely vote Wednesday on a bill that claims to “ban” human cloning but would, in reality, protect the cloning of human embryos, as long as they are killed for their stem cells. In essence, the phony "ban" would allow "therapeutic" cloning while prohibiting "reproductive" cloning. Advocates of unethical research have often used this strategy of proposing “phony cloning bans” to deceive people into supporting unethical research (particularly in Missouri in 2006).
For more important information on the dangers of human cloning click here (helpful diagrams and educational resources are near the bottom of the page).
The U.S. House of Representatives will likely vote on an embryonic stem cell research bill (S. 5) this Thursday. Earlier this spring, on April 11, the U.S. Senate voted 63-34 to pass S. 5, which calls for increased public funding of research that destroys human embryos (read text here). Embryonic stem cell research is both immoral and unnecessary. Unfortunately many in Congress want to spend your tax dollars on it anyway. To see how your senator voted check the Vote Watch page. Call your representative today and urge him or her to vote “No” on S. 5, and keep your tax dollars from supporting unethical research! In January the House passed a similar bill seeking to overturn President Bush's ethical guidelines for embryonic stem cell research funds. Proponents of the measure frequently exaggerate claims about the necessity and usefulness of embryonic stem cells, but in addition to its highly questionable usefulness the fundamental problem is that such research destroys human lives. For important information on stem cell research and other bioethics issues visit the stem cell page and adult stem cell page. To see how your representative voted on the House version of this bill check the Vote Watch page.
Because of minor alterations to the bill made by the Senate, S. 5 will be voted on by the House after which the President has promised to veto the legislation. The bill would then go first to the Senate and then to the House (if necessary) for a veto override vote. Pray that this bill never becomes law and that liberals in Congress will not try to sneak this type of unethical stem cell language into other legislation.
Recent scientific research has shown that adult stem cells (in this case from umbilical cord blood) can be used to produce insulin. This is great news for diabetics. Adult stem cell research does not involve destroying human embryos so no ethical concerns are raised. Despite all the claims of the media, liberal activists, and selective scientists, adult stem cells continue to show much more promise at treating diseases and injuries than the more ethically suspect stem cells taken from human embryos.
For more information check the AdvanceUSA stem cell page or adult stem cell page.
A parental custody case of sorts could have drastic effects abortion law. After producing three embryos through IVF, the parents of the embryos divorced. The father wants the embryos destroyed or frozen indefinitely, and the mother wants to have the embryos implanted into her womb to give the children a chance to be born. Now the courts must decide if the embryos are "people" or "property." America will be watching.
Next week the House of
Representatives will likely vote on the stem cell bill
recently passed by the Senate. The Senate bill (S. 5) would overturn President
Bush's ethical guidelines on embryonic research and require your tax dollars to
be spent on research that destroys human embryos.
Unfortunately the House will probably pass the unethical legislation, but the
President has promised to veto the bill. In that case, the bill would
then go back to the Senate for a vote on whether to sustain or override his
veto.
For more information on this issue, check the AdvanceUSA stem cell page and adult stem cell page.
Governor Sonny Perdue recently signed a bill into law
which would set aside funds for research involving stem cells from umbilical
cord, placental tissue and amniotic fluid.
It’s nice to see that the state of Georgia realizes that adult stem
cell research offers the best hope for treatments without crossing ethical
lines.
For more exciting news on
adult stem cells click
here.
University of Pennsylvania researchers have used adult stem cells in mice to regrow hair on mice who have suffered deep skin wounds. In fact, these scientists believe they will able to treat male human baldness as a result of their research, perhaps in five years!
This research only emphasizes the variety and effectiveness of adult stem cell therapies which do not have the moral problems associated with embryonic stem cell research.
In order to conduct human cloning and some forms of stem cell research, large quantities of human eggs must be "harvested" from donor women (often poor young women strapped for cash). Though often ignored or downplayed, egg harvesting poses serious health risks to women and raises serious ethical questions. This New York Times article helps shed some light on the ethical problems.
For more information on human cloning and stem cell research click here.
Adult stem cells offer the best hope for regenerative medicine and present no ethical dilemmas. These pediatricians are speaking out about the best hope for cures (which doesn't threaten human life).
For more information on the exciting developments in adult stem cell research click here.
Last night (Wednesday, April 11) the U.S. Senate voted 63-34 to pass S. 5, which calls for increased public funding of research that destroys human embryos (read text here). Embryonic stem cell research is both immoral and unnecessary. Unfortunately many in Congress want to spend your tax dollars on it anyway. To see how your senator voted consult the vote box on our Vote Watch Page.
For more information on stem cells click here or here.
This scientific article tells how female adult stem cells may be more useful than their male counterparts but the underlying fact that even single cells posses sex characteristics is interesting. Even single-celled human embryos are either male or female, which would seem to support the argument that human life begins at conception.
In January the House passed a bill seeking to overturn President Bush's ethical guidelines for embryonic stem cell research funds. On Tuesday, April 10 debate in the Senate will begin on very similar legislation (read text here) with a vote likely the next day, Wednesday, April 11. Proponents of the measure will likely exaggerate claims about the necessity and usefulness of embryonic stem cells, but in addition to its highly questionable usefulness the fundamental problem is that such research destroys human lives. For important information on stem cell research and other bioethics issues visit the stem cell page. To see how your representative voted on the House version of this bill check the Vote Watch page.
THIS WEEK urge your senators to vote "No" on S. 5 to prevent tax dollars from funding embryo-destroying research!
Because of minor alterations to the bill, if S. 5 passes the Senate it will be voted on by the House after which the President has promised to veto the legislation. The bill would then go first to the Senate and then to the House (if necessary) for a veto override vote. Pray that this bill never becomes law and that liberals in Congress will not try to sneak this type of unethical stem cell language into other legislation.
There is more great news about research involving ethical sources of stem cells here. Also, check out this story about a Missouri man who got a new lease on life from adult stem cell therapy in Thailand.
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