Rees and Katie,
First of all  Katie, Buffalo NY has already received over 100 inches of
snow this year. Can Wisconsin top that? :)

Here are some excerpts from past postings on this list. It seems most
anti-abortion supporters of stem cell research have either experienced
devastating diseases in their families, that this research holds promise
for curing, or they have been convinced by patients advocates. Sen.
Specter became  one of the strongest supporters in the Senate for stem
cell research and other PD research funding, due the efforts of a PWP
from Penn., Jim Cordy.  These remarks were made by Specter last fall,when
it became clear the bill he had sponsored to remove restrictions on the
research was not going to be brought to a vote in the Senate:

Congressional Record  September 28, 2000
[Page: S9447]
Senator Specter:
....I have said publicly that I understand those on the other side of the
issue.
It involves taking an embryo which has been created for purposes of in
vitro
fertilization but not used. These embryos are discarded. There are some
100,000 embryos in existence today which will not be used. So the issue
is
whether you simply discard these embryos which will have no further
effect,
or whether you use these embryos to produce stem cells which can cure
many
very serious maladies.

There are other alternatives such as adult stem cells. But the scientific
evidence has been very compelling, in my judgment, that adult stem cells
cannot do the job, but stem cells can from embryos.

There are also stem cells from fetal tissue. Those stem cells are
limited,
and we really need the stem cells from these embryos to provide the
research
opportunities to cure so many of these ailments.

This is not an issue which is going to lead to the creation of embryos
for
the purposes of extracting stem cells. When we have the fetal tissue
discussion, many people are concerned that they will produce more
abortions
to have fetal tissue available. In fact, that was not the case--fetal
tissue was used from abortions which would have occurred in any event.

It is not a controversial pro-life versus pro-choice issue as we have had
many Senators who are strongly pro-life support stem cell research in
this
legislation. Senator Strom Thurmond, who is very strongly pro-life and an
acknowledged very conservative Senator, testified before the subcommittee
in favor of this legislation to have Federal funding for extraction of
stem
cells from embryos.

Senator Connie Mack of Florida has spoken about this bill, another
pro-life
Senator speaking in favor of it. Very strong statements have come from
Senator Gordon Smith, who is pro-life and very concerned about these
underlying issues, as to why he feels the balance is in favor of this
sort
of legislation.

Since the issue was mentioned and there is not another Senator on the
floor
seeking recognition, I thought I would explain in abbreviated form where
this legislation is pending, and why I have been pressing. It comes
naturally within the subcommittee of appropriations which I chair.

The prohibition against use of Federal funds to extract stem cells from
embryos was placed in a bill which came out of this subcommittee. When
the
prohibition was imposed, there was no one who really knew the miraculous
potential of stem cells, it being a veritable fountain of youth. This
only came into existence with the research disclosed in November of 1998.
Since that time, our subcommittee has had seven hearings to explore the
issue very fully.

ALSO:
"Put to the Test: GOP Avoids Abortion For Now, but Science Is Stirring
the
Debate --- Research That Kills Embryos But May Fight Diseases Prompts
Reassessments --- A Senator and His Conscience
Wall Street Journal
Eastern edition
Aug 1, 2000
By Bob Davis
p.  A1

 " PHILADELPHIA -- Republicans may have called a truce in their civil war
over abortion, but don't expect it to hold. Scientific advances are
reshaping abortion politics.

   Consider Sen. Gordon Smith. The National Right to Life Committee says
the Oregon Republican voted the right way on abortion every time last
year. But when an Oregon antiabortion activist asked him a few weeks ago
to
defend a prohibition on extracting stem cells from human embryos because
the
procedure kills the embryos, he declined. Someday, he told her,
researchers might be able to turn such cells into neurons that would
relieve the Parkinson's disease that has ravaged his family.
   "I've had many people who have died slowly," he told the activist.
"Part  of my pro-life ethic is to make life better for the living..."
AND:
From a Roll Call article by  Mort Kondracke
"During various Congressional fights to lift the ban, disease groups
won over such pro-lifers as then-Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan, and Sens.
Strom Thurmond, R-S.C.; Pete Domenici, R-N.M.; Connie Mack, R-
Fla.; and John McCain, R-Ariz.
"Dole declared in one debate that permitting research to fight
disease was 'the pro-life position to take.'