DARKNESS FOR THE SUNSHINE STATE?
A warning from Don C. Reed:
Florida is teetering on the brink of falling back into the Dark Ages.
At a time when the rest of the country is embracing embryonic stem cell
research as a gift from God to the minds of men and women, a liberating
chance to bring cure for millions-Florida may take a giant leap backward to
the Dark Ages, when science was forbidden. The Republican-dominated
legislature is shoving an anti-research bill (HB 1065, Flores/Haridopolous)
through, and the Republican Governor, Charlie Crist, has given hints he
might actually sign it-forgetting his promises to support research.
It is to be hoped that Governor Crist will stick to his principles, and veto
HB 1065, because surely he does not want to become known as "a man of his
most recent word"., as Bill Buckley once said of someone else.
But it is Representative Anitere Flores (R-114) who puts a smiling face over
darkness. Physically attractive, and with a lawyer's slickness, Ms. Flores
knows just what to say and how to say it-she can make up seem down, and
right seem wrong.
For example, when she says, "I sponsored the Florida Hope Act, which would
dedicate $20 million in state funds for stem cell research that...gives sick
Floridians the greatest hope of treatment in the shortest time"-that sounds
wonderful, yes?
She does not mention the fact that:
a. She herself requested that the $20 million be removed from the bill-which
now contains not a dime for funding.
b. Her bill contains prohibitions of research more extreme than George Bush's-remember
the small number of embryonic stem cell lines the President approved? Even
those could not be studied with state funding, if Ms. Flores gets her way.
Her bill, HB 1065, the so-called Hope Act, would ban state funding for
embryonic stem cell research. Florida research institutions could never
receive one nickel in state funds for embryonic stem cell research.
This would block state-funded research at all of Florida's colleges and
institutions, both existing and on the way, denying the world the chance to
benefit and share knowledge.
And this is not just about Florida. What if this bill-or the national Senate
Bill 30 "Hope Act" from which it is largely copied-became law in other
states?
If imposed nationally, California's magnificent $3 billion stem cell program
would be illegal... no state funding for embryonic stem cell research...
Folks, we have to stop this bill in its tracks.
Right now, conservative Republicans hold sway in the legislature. Only
Governor Charlie Crist can stop the bill-and he should, because he ran on a
platform supporting embryonic stem cell research-but can he take the heat
from the opposition? That remains to be seen.
Got friends or family in Florida? Email them today, would you please? Cut
and paste this column and pass it along, ask them to write a letter to the
editor of their local newspaper. (at the bottom of the page are the email
addresses they can use.)
Here are 25 possible thoughts which might serve as beginnings for letters to
the editor:
Banning state funding for embryonic stem cell research is a mistake, but the
so-called "Hope Act" by Republicans Flores and Haridopolos would do exactly
that.
Representative Anitere Flores makes false statements about her bill, saying
"there is nothing in the bill that would tie researcher's hands"-not
mentioning that her bill would ban badly needed state funds for researchers.
Without grants, scientists cannot do the work to find cures.
Although advertised as a step forward for stem cell research, HB 1065
contains no money for research of any kind. It is nothing but a way to
prevent stem cell research from happening.
Ms. Flores has a right to her personal beliefs as a Catholic and she should
practice her faith as she sees fit-but she does not have the right to impose
her religious beliefs on the rest of us.
Big Government should never be used to take away a family's right to the
best medical treatment available. If Ms. Flores wants to exclude herself and
her family from the benefits of stem cell research, that is her privilege,
but she should not use the power of the government to deny other families
the hope of cure.
Why did the Republican leadership (72 of 79 Republican officials) hold
secret meetings to discuss the latest anti-research arguments in what seems
a blatant violation of the Sunshine Act? Ms. Flores admits holding a
Republican-only private meeting, at which the key speaker was a
religiously-oriented anti-embryonic individual, (Dr. Maureen Condic,
University of Utah, outspoken critic of stem cell research, whose writing is
featured in religious magazines) and the discussion was about the best
arguments and ways to attack embryonic stem cell research. The Republican's
defense was that she herself did not speak (she just arranged the meeting)
and nobody mentioned the number of her bill... Floridians should not be
fooled by such cheap lawyer tricks.
Alleged "experts" Ms. Flores imported from out of state are questionable, at
best. According to the Miami Herald, she "...enlisted some questionable
experts to testify about stem cell research. One expert was a mechanic for a
railroad company. Another was a retired orthodontist..." ("Lawmaker changed
non-vote-two days late", Yudi Pineiro, posted on Monday, April 16, 2007)
Parkinson's has been described as like being buried alive in a
slowly-closing tomb. Gradually the neurological disease steals the body's
abilities. Should not Parkinson's sufferers, (and their families who care
for them) have the right to see research be funded which might bring peace
to their troubled lives? If you agree, contact Governor Crist, and ask him
to publicly promise to veto any bill which bans funding for stem cell
research.
More and more, health care insurance is becoming unaffordable. Too many
Americans (an estimated one hundred million) have incurable diseases or
disabilities. Because they will never get well, they must be cared for every
day until they die-imposing huge expenses on families and government.
Although supposedly a way to fund stem cell research with $20 million
dollars a year, HB 1065 now contains no money for any kind of stem cell
research at all. It is a ban on embryonic stem cell research funding, pure
and simple-and who asked that the money for adult stem cell research be
removed? Nobody else but Rep. Anitere Flores herself.
Which major scientific, educational, and medical groups support embryonic
stem cell research? The American Medical Association. The National
Association of Sciences. The National Institutes of Health. 518 patient
advocacy groups. 88 Nobel Prize-winning scientists. The late President
Gerald Ford. Nancy Reagan. The late Christopher Reeve. Former President
Jimmy Carter.
Which major scientific, educational, or medical groups share Rep. Flores's
opinion that adult stem cell research is all that is needed? Not one. The
opposition is religious, and ideological.
The blastocysts used in embryonic stem cell research are microscopic-like
those millions of married women lose every month embryos in their natural
cycle. Nobody weeps for a tampon, there are no funerals for tampons-why?
Because a blastocyst is a potential life, not a living being. Embryonic stem
cell research is about cells, not children-except, perhaps, a child being
healed by a new therapy.
No one suggests that adult stem cell research should not go forward. But it
is not enough. Despite a fifty-year head start (Human embryonic stem cell
research only began in America in 1998) and massive funding and political
support, adult stem cell research is still primarily helpful in only about
nine conditions.
Imagine being paralyzed. A simple act like going to the bathroom can take
two hours and require an assistant. Hiring an attendant may ruin a paralyzed
person's family's finances.
Right now, the only way to study a disease is in the patient. How much
better to study the condition in the safety of a Petri dish-with
disease-specific stem cell lines. But "poison pill" language in the Flores
bill (HB 1065) would ban state funding for the research.
New medicines now cost as much as one billion dollars to develop, going
through all the necessary human trials. But if we could test new drugs on
stem cells in a Petri dish, we could weed out many drugs from ever needing
to go through all those expensive tests-thereby lowering the costs of all
new medicines.
HB 1065 (Flores, R) is more restrictive even than President Bush's narrow
laws. It would deny funding for research on even the few stem cell lines the
President allows.
Florida is the Sunshine state, not a state which may become a symbol for the
dark Ages.
New Governor Charlie Crist was elected on a promise that he would support
embryonic stem cell research. Will he now break his word? He should just
say, he stands by his promise, and publicly state he will sign no bill which
bans funding for embryonic stem cell research.
What is the difference between Jeb Bush and Charlie Crist? Charlie Crist may
be more extreme-and misleading. Jeb Bush was against funding embryonic stem
cell research, (and he let everyone know it) but at least he never pushed a
bill to ban funding for it-Charlie Crist, supposedly a friend for research,
a man who campaigned on a promise to support embryonic stem cell research,
may sign a bill far more restrictive than anything Jeb Bush ever came up
with.
Why should the Republican party be identified as having blind hatred for
stem cell research? 2008 is just around the corner. With nearly three out of
four Americans in favor of government-funded stem cell research, does the
GOP really want to known for fanatic opposition to research for cure?
Why were strings pulled behind the scenes to rush the Flores anti-research
bill through so fast, allowing it to skip hearings?
Jeb Bush worked hard to invite three top scientific institutions-Torrey
Pines, Burnham, Scripps-to open branches in Florida, so it could be part of
the great biomedical revolution. But why would research institutions want to
move to a state where their hands are going to be tied by the Flores bill
(HB 1065)?
Not all Republicans are anti-research. Modern-day Republicans like Nancy
Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Arlen Specter, Orrin Hatch, and more, all
support advanced stem cell research. Why is Florida so dominated by enemies
of research like House Speaker Marco Rubio and Rep. Anitere Flores?
Here are some email addresses of Florida papers. Anyone can write to them,
although of course it has more power coming from within the state, which is
why it would be helpful to contact any friends in the sunshine state.
Be sure to put your contact information, including phone number, at the top
of your email. And thank you, very much.
Florida Letters to the Editor List
St. Petersburg Times
http://www.sptimes.com/...
Tallahassee Democrat
http://tallahassee.com/...
Orlando Sentinel
[log in to unmask]
The Florida Times Union
letters jacksonville.com
Tampa Tribune
http://www.tbo.com/...
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/...
The Palm Beach Post
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/...
The Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/...
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