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Hi everyone, I had begun to write a few thoughts on this subject when it first arose (prompted by Bill Harrington's original email on the subject). My purpose was mainly to pass on some reflections about what the Parkinson community here in Halifax did to support the start-up of a neural/fetal research program. (Now in Phase II, the neural transplantation program is being conducted by researchers, led by Dr Ivar Mendez, at the Dalhousie University Medical School and the Queen Elizabeth II Health Science Centre and is the only program of its kind in Canada). However, I left my reply in draft form and unsent. Now after some very interesting exchanges which I think will help all of us understand the issues, I want to add only a brief comment or two. Bob Martone's document used with members of the U.S. Congress covers the issues very well and follows many of the same arguments we raised in the early 1990s here in Halifax when the proposed neural transplantation program was attacked by the pro-life community. I believe it is very important to separate the two issues of abortion as a health, social and moral issue from that of neural/fetal medical research. It is always too easy to confuse these issues. Abortion is and will continue to be a controversial issues and a difficult one for many good people in our **pluralistic society**. Other writers on this topic have used that term (Charlie Myers, I think) and it is, I believe, a quite fundamental assumption for many countries including Canada and the United States. To the extent that we are civilized, it is a measure of our civilization that it is tolerant and capable of accepting diverse opinions and beliefs. In Nova Scotia we faced all of the usual (and heartfelt) pro-life, anti-abortion arguments. The researchers, the hospital and the medical school followed all of the appropriate ethical protocols. The pro-life people did their best to oppose it. When we learned that they were lobbying the politicians actively to stop the program, the Parkinson community rallied with its own lobbying effort -- using arguments very similar to those in Bob's document. In the end we succeeded and the politicians concluded that this was a medical and scientific issue rather than a political or religious issue. In my opinion we need this kind of research and recent news stories seem to confirm this. Best to everyone from a wet and rainy Nova Scotia, Peter ************************************************************************** Peter Kidd Learning Materials Consulting Services 62 Coronation Avenue, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3N 2M6 Canada Tel/FAX: (902) 443-4262 Email: [log in to unmask] URL: http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/~aa163/peterkidd.html