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IT IS IMPORTANT THAT EVERYONE WHO CAN JOIN THE OPPOSITION TO THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT ON STEM CELL RESEARCH, otherwise research will be stalled for decades, even centuries. THIS ANTI-SCIENCE MOVEMENT IS POWERFUL AND WELL-ORGANIZED AND WE WILL LOSE TO THEM IF YOU DON'T HELP OUT. Ray #390 Friday, November 16, 2007 - FERTILIZED EGG ELIGIBLE FOR DRIVER'S LICENSE? We are indebted to DAILY KOS for bringing this issue to public attention: see article http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/11/14/145659/75 I'm joking about the driver's license, of course. But there the humor ends. Read a few sentences from an Associated Press article by P. Solomon Banda, "Court Clears Way for Egg Rights Showdown", Wednesday, November 14, 2007. "DENVER (AP) - The Colorado Supreme Court cleared the way Tuesday for an anti-abortion group to collect signatures for a ballot measure that would define a fertilized egg as a person. (emphasis added-dr). "If approved by voters, the measure would give fertilized eggs the state constitutional protections of inalienable rights, justice and due process. "(opponents). said the measure would hamper in-vitro fertilization and stem cell research and would effectively ban birth control. ". similar voter-led initiatives or legislative efforts are under way in five other states, including Montana, Georgia, Oregon, Michigan and South Carolina." Friends of this column may recollect a similar effort we defeated in California several years ago, in which a seemingly unrelated bill-parental notification of abortion-- contained language which could have shut down embryonic stem cell research. That one was defeated by a margin so narrow that one leading paper ran a story incorrectly announcing the measure had won. Consider: if a fertilized egg is legally defined as a person, embryonic stem cell research could be considered murder. Also birth control. And, of course, all forms of abortion, at any stage. I have felt for years that the Religious Right was attacking stem cell research for a hidden reason-if they could find a way to call embryonic stem cell research murder, by saying a few cells are the legal equivalent of a person, that would automatically criminalize all forms of abortion. To stop abortion, they would deny everyone the greatest medical advance in history. I personally think America has it about right on abortion. We are in the middle, neither totally for, nor totally against it. If I understand correctly, and I am absolutely not an expert on this, it is legal to have an abortion in the early stages, but not later, when the child has a chance at survival on its own. Other than that, it is the woman's decision. But whatever one's opinion is on abortion, there is a huge difference between a child growing in the nurturing shelter of a mother's womb-- and some cells in a dish of water. Implanted in the womb, a blastocyst could become a baby. Stem cells in a Petri dish biologically cannot become a child-I defy any opponent of research to show how a baby can be born in a 5" dish of salt water, or on a microscope slide-- it is physiologically impossible. This is basic biology. How can there be a pregnancy, unless the fertilized egg implants in the walls of the womb? Without implantation, there is no pregnancy, and no child. Cells, cells, nothing but cells; stem cell research is nothing but cells. Eventually, reason will prevail, and the attacks on our research will cease, or at least become so ignored as to have no effect. But that day could be delayed fifty years. What could happen if Colorado passed a law stating that a blastocyst-- a microscopic fertilized egg, even one in a Petri dish-- has all the constitutional protections of a born human being? That could provide grounds for another lawsuit against the California stem cell program, attempting to shut us down. The last frivolous lawsuit delayed us almost two years. And if the case was appealed all the way to the current U.S. Supreme Court, can anyone guarantee how they would rule? A bad decision could take decades to reverse. There are 7 Republicans and 2 Democrats on this court-do we want such an ultra-conservative court to have a chance to rule on the Constitutionality of stem cell research? P.S. Sadly, I must retract my earlier statement about trusting GOP candidate Rudi Giuliani on stem cells-at a recent Republican debate, both he and McCain made statements opposing the SCNT process. If we want a President who fully supports stem cell research, he or she will have to be a Democrat this time. None of the current crop of Republicans appears able to break away from the Religious Right on the issue of medical research. Don Reed www.stemcellbattles.com Rayilyn Brown Board Member AZNPF Arizona Chapter National Parkinson's Foundation [log in to unmask] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn