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DON REED HAS SUPPLIED INFO AND AN IMPORTANT SITE FOR FIGHTING FOR CURES. WON'T YOU JOIN US BY DONATING FINANCIALLY, SIGNING PETITION, AND OTHER WAYS YOU CAN HELP? APPARENTLY MICHIGAN IS THE ONLY STATE IN THE UNION THAT IS TAKING PROACTIVE STEPS TO CURE DISEASE: Ray BATTLE IN THE WOLVERINE STATE: Michigan's Fight for Cures by Don C. Reed One of Earth's toughest life forms is the wolverine, Michigan's state animal. The 40-pound king of weasels is territorial and aggressive, challenging far larger predators, even driving a wolf or a 600 pound black bear off its kill-which encounters can be verified by a quick visit to YouTube. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VoKioxH-5Q&feature=related) But a wolverine is gentleness itself compared to a parent fighting for their child. How shall I feel, if someone says: "Sorry, your paralyzed child must remain in his wheelchair, because a cure would interfere with our group's religious philosophy"--? I do not care about person's private beliefs: they are none of my business; he or she may believe the moon is made of green cheese if they wish. But when ideology crosses the line into public policy-when religious beliefs block my son's hopes of cure-- then we have a problem. In Michigan today, laws are cripplingly prejudiced against research. I suggest we do something about that. In the whole country, to the best of my knowledge, there is only one pro-embryonic stem cell research measure headed for the ballot this November-in Michigan, the state which has been called the most "pro-life" in the Union. Personally, I am very much pro-life-meaning I support the living, feeling their rights outweigh the civil liberties of microscopic dots of tissue in a Petri dish. But "pro-life" in politics unfortunately generally means anti-research, and that is the case in Michigan today. Michigan's current laws are fully approved by the religious right. The opposition to research is dominated by the Catholic Church, which, despite official pleas of poverty, is the largest property-owner in the world. The Michigan Catholic Conference, for example, has already produced an anti-embryonic stem cell research CD-- and has mailed out half a million (503,000) copies of it, to every Catholic family in the state. On the other hand, many Catholics (like my family) enthusiastically support the research: did you know that across the country 72% of American Catholics support embryonic stem cell research? Check out the national study done by Beldon Russonello and Stewart, (http://www.catholicsforchoice.org/topics/politics/documents/2004catholicvotepoll.pdf ) which includes the following statement: "A large majority of Catholic voters (72%) supports allowing scientists to use stem cells obtained from very early human embryos to find cures for serious diseases such as Alzheimer's, diabetes, and Parkinson's." These Catholics must be heard, as well as Protestants, Jewish folks, and those who (like myself) may consider their values spiritual, but are not interested in organized religion. Unfortunately, although pro-research folks are a majority, the anti-research folks get the organization and leadership on a weekly basis. The odds are against us.But we can win. All who support research must know about the CureMichigan campaign, now trying to put a pro-research measure on the ballot. (I wish to emphasize that this column is my personal opinion; I support the CureMichigan campaign, enthusiastically: but these are my words, not theirs.) To qualify for a November vote, the CureMichigan campaign folks (almost entirely volunteers) must gather 380,126 valid signatures, and bring them to the Secretary of State before July 7th. Anyone who has gathered signatures can vouch there will be errors made-so the actual number needed will be about half a million-the same number already reached by the opposition. It is a tough fight. The hard work will be done by Michiganders. They are the ones who will be standing on street corners, enduring the rudeness of the opposition, who are not famous for their manners. Apparently their faith does not require them to be courteous. We as outsiders can only cheer them on-and help financially. I know, I know-but do it anyway-every little bit helps. Click below, and give them a couple bucks, like I did. I contributed $25, big spender, huh? www.CureMichigan.com. Remember, if they win, we win. Michigan has three outstanding universities; they must be free to work on research for cure. What if the cure for the disease or disability which affects your loved one was found in Michigan-or not? In the next ten weeks, people like you and me will be standing on street corners, collecting signatures for an initiative to overturn Michigan's current cripplingly anti-research restrictions. If this is indeed the only pro embryonic stem cell research proposal across the country be on a ballot this November, the campaign could escalate from a quiet Midwestern election to a battle on a national stage. It is critical for allies of cure research to unite and do whatever we can to support Michigan's efforts. Michigan is one of the five most restrictive states in the nation when it comes to embryonic stem cell research, along with Arkansas, North and South Dakota and Louisiana. Current law there actually criminalizes somatic cell nuclear transfer with a punishment of 15 years and a $10M civil fine. Bearing this in mind, Michigan has modeled their ballot proposal language after HR 810, the widely supported Castle-DeGette bill. The CureMichigan campaign is now collecting signatures across the state. Signature collection began in earnest in March, deploying volunteers statewide to gather marks of support. Their goal for submission is over 500,000 signatures. CureMichigan has seen remarkable success thus far, with limited resources but plentiful volunteers. With only ten weeks left before submission, petition circulators are volunteering all hours to meet their goals. Petition circulation and volunteer coordination on a statewide scale is an expensive endeavor. Please visit www.CureMichigan.com to find out how you can help. As one friend of the research put it, "Our families, friends and neighbors deserve nothing less than the best medical treatments available." 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