Arizona is somewhere behind Mississippi,  Kansas and Missouri (where at
least a war is raging) criminalizing not only SCNT, but egg sale, only not
for IVF, since according to State Senator Jack Harper (R) Surprise it's OK
to create embryos for "reproduction".  How very illogical and depressing.
Hey, Bernie, is there no effort whatsoever in AZ to counter these
Neanderthals? Ray

New York Times Editorial
The States Confront Stem Cells

Published: March 31, 2006
Maryland will become the fourth state to authorize the use of state funds to
support embryonic stem cell research, now that the governor, a Republican,
has pledged to sign a bill approved this week by the legislature, which is
controlled by Democrats. Maryland will thus join California, New Jersey and
Connecticut in recognizing that the federal government's abdication of
support for embryonic stem cell research has effectively shifted the issue
to the states.
President Bush has authorized federal funds for research on only a limited
number of embryonic stem cell lines, and Congress has been too hamstrung by
fights between research advocates and social conservatives to expand support
beyond that. No federal money can be used for therapeutic cloning, the most
promising area of research. Privately financed research is an option, but
the government makes that difficult at sites where other scientists work
with federally financed equipment.
Individual states have been chiming in with their own policies, which range
from a farsighted determination to finance the restricted research with
state money to truly awful decisions to treat scientists as criminals if
they dare to do therapeutic cloning. South Dakota bans all research on
embryonic stem cells, and a few other states ban therapeutic cloning.
Several states, however, authorize state funds for both embryonic stem cell
research and therapeutic cloning. California's $3 billion 10-year program,
currently stalled by a court challenge, dwarfs New Jersey's and
Connecticut's programs. Maryland's small program will use only embryos that
would otherwise be discarded by fertility clinics, not embryos generated for
therapeutic cloning.
At first many states seemed headed toward restrictive policies, but then the
academic and business communities threw their weight behind research that
they believe could ultimately lead to new therapies and possibly new
companies to exploit the findings. In some places, the result is a mishmash
of conflicting approaches. In Wisconsin, where scientists have been pioneers
in the development of embryonic stem cell lines, Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat,
vetoed a bill - passed late last year by the Legislature, which is dominated
by Republicans - that would have made therapeutic cloning a criminal offense
punishable by up to 10 years in jail. He has instead embarked on a drive to
recruit stem cell companies for Wisconsin, with a goal of capturing 10
percent of the stem cell industry by 2015.
This piecemeal state-by-state approach is an absurd way to conduct research
that may have extraordinary importance if it pans out. Few residents of
states that ban therapeutic cloning will refuse lifesaving therapies
developed in other states. So it seems unfair to rely on a handful of states
to fill the gaps left by the federal abdication. There is growing sentiment
in Congress that the range of stem cell research eligible for federal funds
needs to be expanded. We agree, and urge that therapeutic cloning be
included in that expansion.

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