 |
 |
ILLINOIS: The Life-Giving Potential Of Stem Cell Research Chicago Tribune November 19, 2003 The life-giving potential of stem cell research Voice Of The People (Letter) Chicago -- This week, the Illinois State Senate is expected to vote on HB 3589, also known as the Stem Cell Research Act. Last spring, this bill passed the House with bi-partisan support. The bill would specifically permit stem cell research and therapeutic applications in Illinois and would also establish review of such research by a Department of Public Health Review Board. It would allow embryonic stem cell research only on excess embryos from fertility clinics, and only after couples have agreed to donate the embryos for research. Otherwise, these embryos would be discarded. The Stem Cell Research Act is of critical importance to the more than 1 million children, women and men who suffer from diabetes in Illinois. (I am the father of James, 10, who was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at age 1.) It is also critical to millions of others who suffer from Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, Lou Gehrig's, spinal cord injury and heart attacks. Embryonic stem cell research--distinct from adult stem cell research, which has been shown lately to be problematic--holds the key to curing these devastating diseases. If you believe that microscopic embryos with no blood supply are human beings with the rights equal to each of us, then none of this matters. But can society then continue to produce thousands of embryos in fertility clinics simply as a byproduct of in-vitro fertilization and dispose of them as if they were yesterday's trash? If the politicians making these decisions determine that research is immoral and unethical, they had better be prepared to provide an alternative to destroying thousand of embryos. You can't have it both ways. The question then becomes: Who is going to bear the financial burden of maintaining these embryos indefinitely? If the burden falls on the clinics, the cost to infertile couples will become so high that only the wealthy will be able to benefit from the technology. Will the State of Illinois want to shoulder the burden of financing the permanent storage of these embryos? I doubt it. We certainly do not oppose the technology used to provide infertile couples with the opportunity to bear offspring. Is it not hypocritical, however, to allow one segment of the population to benefit from science that satisfies their needs but preclude another from the hope that the same technology could bring to them? It makes as much sense as burying a body with healthy organs intact rather that harvesting those organs to provide someone with a second chance at life. It would be as if you were forced to watch your child starve while someone stood in front of you dumping a plate of food into the garbage. We can do better than that and the American people agree. Three recent polls on this issue show that the majority of Americans support this form of research. Illinois state senators should support the research, too, because stem cell research has life-giving potential for so many people afflicted with devastating diseases. The bill also will help attract and retain top scientists and significant research dollars in Illinois, which contribute to the economy as well as the overriding goal of finding a cure. SOURCE: The Chicago Tribune / CAMR http://www.stemcellfunding.org/fastaction/news.asp?id=724 * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn