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I did not write this article, but thought you should know what the tactics
of the Religious Right consist of:
Ray

Wrong arena
Group should take stem cell fight to public
Thursday, September 20, 2007

We don't expect pro-life groups to support a referendum on the November
ballot to bond $450 million to fund stem cell research in New Jersey. Groups
such as the Legal Center for Defense of Life, which is headquartered in
Morristown, argue that embryonic stem cell research destroys life and could
lead to cloning. Let them make that argument in the public square, not the
public courtroom.

The Morristown group filed suit this week in state Superior Court to remove
the stem cell referendum from the November ballot. It argues that the
interpretative statement is misleading, primarily because it does not
specifically mention that the bond would fund research on embryos. The group
is correct. The statement makes no such mention. Instead, it speaks
generally of "stem cell, scientific and medical research."

That omission, if you will, should give the Morristown center a point to
make in campaigning against the bond referendum. It can argue that backers
of the measure are being misleading. But we see no reason why that omission
should overrule the Legislature's right to put the measure on the ballot.
Interpretative statements, which are relatively new, are not meant to cover
all political points of the issue involved. Their purpose is to make it
easier for the public to understand what it is voting on. We don't think
there's any doubt voters will know that this bond referendumis designed to
fund all facets of stem cell research.

It should definitely stay on the ballot and opponents should eschew a legal
fight for a political campaign.

Rayilyn Brown
Board Member AZNPF
Arizona Chapter National Parkinson's Foundation
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