but the opposition is very busy curtailing it in other states, Ray
More Governors Boost Stem Cell Research
By Christine Vestal
Stateline.org
Thursday 05 April 2007
As Congress and the Bush administration remain deadlocked over funding
for stem cell research, three new Democratic governors have joined other
state leaders in supporting the controversial science.
Last week, New York's Eliot Spitzer won legislative approval for $600
million for stem cell research and Deval Patrick of Massachusetts began
trying to undo a state regulation that hinders the research there. Iowa Gov.
Chet Culver signed a law in February repealing that state's ban on the
nascent science.
All three - newcomers to the governor's mansion - pledged to support
stem cell research in their election campaigns. They join a half-dozen other
governors from both parties - including California Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger (R), Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell (R), Maryland Gov. Martin
O'Malley (D), Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D), Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle
(D) and New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (D) - who have backed the research for
its promised medical breakthroughs and potential economic rewards.
Since August 9, 2001, when President George W. Bush curtailed federal
funding of stem cell research, states have stepped in to keep the fledgling
science afloat by providing state money and removing legal barriers to its
practice.
Last July, Bush exercised his first presidential veto by refusing to
sign a bill that would have expanded federal funding for the science. This
year, the new Democratic-led U.S. House passed the same bill - releasing
money for stem cell research using surplus embryos from in vitro
fertilization clinics - and the U.S. Senate is expected to approve the same
bill. But political analysts say Congress is not likely to muster enough
votes to override a promised presidential veto.
Although a recent ABC survey showed the American public favors
government funding of stem cell studies by a margin of two to one, Bush and
his anti-abortion allies remain opposed because they say it violates the
sanctity of human life by destroying embryos.
Democrats are united in supporting the science, along with such
high-profile Republicans as Nancy Reagan, whose loved ones have had
Alzheimers' and other diseases that might be ameliorated by the research.
New York's new budget measure will make the Empire State the sixth
state - California, New Jersey, Illinois, Connecticut and Maryland are the
others - to finance stem cell research. It would create the second largest
state research fund in the country - $600 million over 11 years.
California's grant program is the largest, setting aside $3 billion over 10
years to support the research.
Wisconsin - where the research was developed - does not provide state
grants, but Doyle has set secured and private money to build a research
institute where stem cell studies may be conducted.
Both Spitzer and his predecessor, Republican Gov. George Pataki, pushed
lawmakers to approve stem cell funding in part to attract investment to the
state's economically depressed upstate region, home to stem cell leaders
Cornell University, University of Rochester and other medical research
centers.
Patrick's proposed change to public health rules would lift a barrier to
the research created by his Republican predecessor, presidential hopeful
Mitt Romney, an opponent of stem cell research.
In 2005, the Massachusetts legislature overrode Romney's veto and
repealed a previous law requiring local district attorneys to approve all
scientific research involving human embryos. The new law set up ethical
guidelines and granted blanket approval to studies involving surplus human
embryos from in vitro fertilization clinics. Romney subsequently moved
administratively to block the research.
At Patrick's request, the Massachusetts Dept. of Health and Human
Services is expected to nullify Romney's action. In February, Culver signed
a law repealing a 2002 stem cell research ban. Iowa's new law removes the
state from a list of six - Michigan, Arkansas, Louisiana, Indiana, North
Dakota and South Dakota - that currently ban the science.
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