Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
WISCONSIN : Budget fight looms on stem cells
Use of embryos pits anti-abortion forces against scientists
By STEVEN WALTERS of the Journal Sentinel staff
Last Updated: July 2, 2001

Madison - One of the biggest, most emotional state budget
fights in the Capitol is over embryonic stem cells - not dollars
and cents.

Quotable
 We're looking at trying to draw some ethical lines where there
are gray areas.  - Rep. Sheryl Albers, (R-Loganville)

State Assembly Republicans and a few Democrats have twice
backed a major change in state law that would allow embryonic
stem cells to be developed for research only through Jan. 1, so
research could occur only on embryonic cells collected before
that date.

Backers of the change, and anti-abortion groups pushing it,
insist that life begins at conception - even when it comes to
stem cells from in-vitro fertilized embryos whose donors have
agreed to give them up. That is also the position of the Roman
Catholic Church and some other Christian groups.

But Democrats who run the state Senate, and officials of the
University of Wisconsin-Madison, insist that the ban on
procuring embryonic stem cells would derail the single most
promising health care research in decades.

Senate-Assembly budget negotiators must try to find a
compromise on the issue, although Democrats such as Senate
President Fred Risser of Madison say they won't vote for any
final budget that includes the limit on stem cell research.

Scientists say embryonic stem cells are, at this point, superior
to stem cells from fat and other tissue for research purposes.

Researchers say embryonic stem cells have the potential to
develop into almost anything in the human body, so they may
be able to treat or cure diseases such as Parkinson's, diabetes,
multiple sclerosis, spinal cord problems, brain injuries and other
killers.

The proposed restriction on embryonic stem cell research was
added to the state budget on a show-of-hands vote by Assembly
Republicans on June 22.

Then, it took 29 votes to add it to the budget, and the stem cell
proposal of Rep. Sheryl Albers (R-Loganville) appeared to have
support from more than 40 Republicans. Exactly one week later,
the full Assembly, on a 64-35 vote, refused to remove it from the
budget.

Albers insisted that her proposal is not a research ban because
it would allow scientists to continue their work on all stem cells
procured by Jan. 1. Violators of the law could be punished with
a fine of up to $50,000 and/or a prison sentence of up to 71/2 years.

Albers said it "was a concession on my part" to suggest allowing
research to continue on embryonic stem cells collected by Jan. 1.
She said anti-abortion groups want an immediate and outright ban
on all stem cell research.

Albers acknowledged she was treading in a medical, ethical and
political minefield with her proposal.

"We're looking at trying to draw some ethical lines where there
are gray areas," she said. But she felt she must act to protect "life
sitting there in a petri dish," referring to stem cells recovered from
in-vitro fertilized embryos.

Rep. Sheldon Wasserman (D-Milwaukee), a physician, said during
Assembly debate Friday that the change would be a disaster
because "the future of life itself will be determined by stem cell
research."

No national policy
So far, Washington politicians - including one originally from
Wisconsin - have been unable to develop a permanent stem cell
research policy.

President Bush and his senior aides still are studying the issue,
despite the offer by Health and Human Services Secretary
Tommy G. Thompson to develop a national policy on it.
As Wisconsin's governor, a position he quit Feb. 1, Thompson
backed stem cell research.

Republican Gov. Scott McCallum supports "research to save
lives" and wants to make sure no fetal body parts or tissue is
ever sold for profit, aide Lisa Hull said.

It would be "premature" of McCallum to comment further because
he doesn't know what - if any - stem cell research limits will be in
the final budget the Legislature sends to him, Hull added.

The stem cell research limit pushed by Albers has drawn national
attention because Wisconsin is a worldwide leader in it, thanks to
University of Wisconsin-Madison scientist James Thomson, who
is studying how stem cells could be used to treat life-threatening
diseases.

Thomson said it would be an "unfortunate" medical setback if
Wisconsin ended development of embryonic stem cells after
Jan. 1. It also might force him to leave Wisconsin, he said.

The scientist said his research lab, the WiCell Research Institute,
and others worldwide will need more embryonic stem cells to do
comprehensive research. "If you just cut (research) off now, you
won't even get to the critical mass to do the basic research,"
Thomson said.

But Albers and Assembly Majority Leader Steve Foti
(R-Oconomowoc) said medical researchers, and UW officials,
repeatedly have said they have - or will have - enough stem
cells available to do all research necessary.

"Awhile back, they jokingly would say, 'Even if you guys pass
this bill, we have enough embryos to do research forever,' "
Foti said of UW officials.

However, Thomson said scientists like him are just beginning
to understand the potential of embryonic stem cells.

"What's even more important is these cells offer brand-new tools
to understand how the body develops, and how it functions,"
he said. "If you're a patient with Parkinson's today, it makes a really
big difference - a couple years."

Medical College of Wisconsin executives also asked last week that
the limit on stem cell research be removed.

"The state budget is not an appropriate vehicle by which to pass
public policy that could potentially stymie the advancement of
treatments and cures for the devastating illness and injuries that
impact the lives of millions of Americans," said Medical College
President T. Michael Bolger and Dean Michael Dunn.

No public debate?
Mark Bugher, a former top deputy to Thompson who works with
scientists and business investors as director of the UW Research
Park, called the Albers proposal "humiliating" because
UW-Madison is a national leader on stem cell research.

Bugher said UW officials "tried to play the honest broker" in the
 controversy by meeting with legislators, explaining the research
and seeking a "public debate" on a separate bill - instead of a
budget amendment - on stem cell research limits.

What Assembly Republican "have done is a far cry from this -
slipping this into the budget like that is a very difficult way to
govern," said Bugher.

But Albers said she had a right to offer her proposal as a budget
amendment, and she never promised to push it as a separate bill.

Bugher said Assembly Republicans backed stem cell research
limits as a "throwaway" budget item to appease anti-abortion
groups that are active politically.

Foti said that is not true.

State campaign-finance records compiled by the non-profit
Wisconsin Democracy Campaign show that anti-abortion
groups spent more than $52,000 to help elect Republican
Assembly members in the last two years.

Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on July 3, 2001.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/jul01/stem03070201.asp

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