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Actor Decries Limitations On Stem-Cell Research Wire Reports - http://www.tulsaworld.com 10/4/2004 MIAMI -- At a Miami Beach home crowded with people in wheelchairs sporting John Kerry buttons, Michael J. Fox -- actor, Parkinson's disease patient and stem-cell- research activist -- recently likened President Bush's limits on federal research funding to giving someone a car without gas. "But he's congratulating himself on giving us the car, so we sit there stuck," said Fox, who is stumping for Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential hopeful. "One doesn't have to be cynical to take a dim view of that and be frustrated by that." Bush placed strict limits on embryonic stem-cell research three years ago. He opposes the idea of "growing human beings for spare body parts, or creating life for our convenience." That position has become a campaign issue, and Fox has joined the debate. Fox, 43, spoke at the home of Evelyne and Jack Cohen, whose daughter, Sabrina, has been a quadriplegic for 12 years following a car wreck. Now she's public relations director for the Genetics Policy Institute, a nonprofit group in Florida that supports stem-cell research. She's also a Democratic precinct chairwoman. Last April, Cohen met Bernard Siegel, the institute founder, and decided to get involved. "For years, my father has been giving me articles about stem cell research and I said to him: 'When they find a cure, let them call me... ,"' she said. "The possibilities for not only spinal cord injuries but diabetes and everything else are so great." Fox, who said stress was aggravating his symptoms, rocked and weaved in a straight-backed chair. He read from written text, words sometimes tumbling out in a rush. "I'll sleep a lot this weekend," he said later in an informal chat. "It's a bit of a grind but it's worth it. I do this very rarely. You won't find a big long track record of me being political." 'THE WRONG CHOICES' Still, using one of Kerry's signature phrases, he said in prepared remarks that Bush "made the wrong choices when it comes to stem-cell research and ... let ideology, not science, guide his decision-making. I believe this was a grave mistake." In a speech on Aug. 9, 2001, Bush placed embryonic stem-cell research "at the leading edge of a series of moral hazards," linking it to human cloning for "spare parts." Bush's position is supported by anti-abortion activists who oppose the use of fetal tissue in disease-prevention research as destruction of human life. In the 2001 speech, Bush acknowledged such research "offers great promise that could help improve the lives of those who suffer from many terrible diseases." He said the federal government would fund research only on "more than 60 genetically diverse stem-cell lines that already exist ... where the life-and-death decision has already been made." His campaign Web site says his administration provided $24.8 million for human embryonic stem-cell research in 2003, "an increase of 132 percent" from 2002. Asked for a response to Fox's comments, Lindsay Taylor, spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee in Washington, said Bush is "the first president ever to fund embryonic stem-cell research. His decision is based on ethical reasons." 'INCREASE FUNDING' Fox said Kerry "understands that we must permit and support this research and not thwart it. He'll ... increase funding at the National Institutes of Health to create research grants and training opportunities for young scientists to encourage them to enter this field." After his speech, Fox said he has no quarrel with people who have "a real fundamental, faith-based or ethical concern about it. I respect that to the point of going to war to defend it." He said what converts research opponents into supporters is a personal connection, like a relative with Alzheimer's disease or cancer. "When they realize it's not a matter-of-fact issue, like Sabrina's mom, who gets a phone call on Halloween night that her daughter has been in an accident. We're all that close to this having an impact on our lives," Fox said. SOURCE: Tulsa World, OK http://tinyurl.com/3mv4x * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn