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NEW JERSEY: Bill Allowing Stem Cell Work Clears New Jersey Assembly By DAVID KOCIENIEWSKI Published: December 16, 2003 TRENTON, Dec. 15 — The Assembly passed a bill on Monday that would make New Jersey the second state in the nation to permit embryonic stem cell research, a controversial practice that uses human cells and embryos to search for new treatments for Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's and other illnesses. Although the federal government has restricted research on cells taken from embryos since 2001, New Jersey's measure would allow the state's pharmaceutical industry and biomedical laboratories to conduct an assortment of experiments that involve growing cells from embryos discarded at fertility clinics. In the weeks before the Assembly voted on the measure, anti-abortion groups and Roman Catholic leaders mounted a campaign to block the bill, saying it was so broadly worded that it allowed the cloning of human beings. "This bill goes a lot further than the sponsors say it does," said Marie Tasy, director of New Jersey Right to Life. "Legal experts say this bill would allow cloning." But the bill's sponsors tried to ease those concerns by specifically outlawing cloning and establishing stern penalties for anyone convicted of using cells to create a human clone. Monday's measure passed, 41-31, with seven members abstaining. "The right-to-life groups are saying that the sky is falling," said Assemblyman Neil M. Cohen, a Democrat from Union County. "But what I do know is that 40 Nobel Prize winners support this and every hospital in New Jersey supports this." A similar bill has already passed the State Senate and Gov. James E. McGreevey has said he will sign it, making New Jersey the only state other than California to legalize the practice. Stem cells are created in the first days of pregnancy, and can be induced to grow into different types of tissue. Many researchers believe they have the potential to transform medicine by allowing scientists to grow new cells to treat spinal injuries, multiple sclerosis and cancer. The cells can only be harvested by destroying a fetus a few days after fertilization, however, which has made many anti- abortion advocates oppose the practice. In 2001, President Bush said researchers could not use federal funds to create new stem cells, but allowed them to continue working on the 11 lines of cells that already existed. Since then, several prominent Republicans have come out in favor of limited stem cell research, including the United States Senators Orrin Hatch of Utah and John McCain of Arizona, as well as Nancy Reagan, the former first lady. But opponents of the New Jersey bill say it goes beyond limited research, and would allow a procedure called "somatic cell nuclear transfer," which some scientists consider a human cloning technique. Supporters of the bill called those arguments misleading and said that by permitting stem cell research, New Jersey would allow its pharmaceutical companies and research labs to remain at the forefront of biomedical science. "This is a fantastic opportunity for New Jersey to show the rest of the world that we intend to promote medical progress, rather than stifle it," said Richard J. Codey, a Democrat from Essex County and co-president of the State Senate. "In the end, truth and science have prevailed." SOURCE: The New York Times http://tinyurl.com/zg9u * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn