Senate approves stem cell research
Senate approves stem cell research
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Todd Dorman
Journal Des Moines Bureau
DES MOINES -- A bill allowing medical research on embryonic stem cells obtained through cloning narrowly cleared the Iowa Senate Wednesday after a debate that veered between coolly technical science and passionate appeals on both sides.
Democrats, who pushed the legislation to passage on a 26-24 vote, billed it as a critical step toward cutting-edge research benefiting thousands afflicted with chronic illnesses, including diabetes, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's. Embryonic stem cells, backers contend, could hold the key to breakthrough treatments.
"This legislation is about making a clear choice," said Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, the bill's lead sponsor. "It is a clear choice between whether or not we are going to offer hope to thousands of Iowans who suffer with debilitating diseases and illness."
Rick Langel of Ankeny, whose 9-year-old daughter Amber has Type 1 diabetes, praised the Senate vote.
"Amber and all the kids like her deserve a chance for a cure," said Langel, with Amber at his side, during a press conference after Wednesday's debate.
But opponents, mostly Republicans, warned that the bill would open the door to human cloning and its potentially dangerous consequences. They accused Democrats of seeking to mask that possibility in a cloud of "semantics and statistics."
"It's the beginning of human cloning," said Senate Minority Leader Mary Lundby, R-Marion. "This is the first step on a slippery slope."
Twenty-six Democrats voted for the bill, Senate File 162, while 20 Republicans and four Democrats voted no. The Democrats who opposed the bill are Sens. Tom Hancock, Epworth; William Heckroth, Waverly; Brian Schoenjahn, Arlington; and Joe Seng, Davenport.
Schoenjahn, who takes moral issue with embryonic research, said he wasn't sure how he'd vote when the debate began.
"It was a very difficult vote for me, because my mother died of Alzheimer's in my sister's arms," Schoenjahn said after the debate. "It was very difficult."
Attention now turns to the House, where another close vote is expected as early as next week.
"There's work to be done," said Gov. Chet Culver, a Democrat who campaigned last fall on expanding stem cell research.
The bill would carve out an exception in Iowa's 2002 ban on human cloning allowing researchers to use a specific cloning technique -- "somatic cell nuclear transfer" -- to create embryonic stem cells.
Democrats insisted repeatedly that the bill keeps Iowa's ban on human cloning for reproductive purposes intact, including severe criminal penalties.
"This bill prohibits human reproductive cloning," said Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, who spoke emotionally of friends wracked by devastating diseases.
"We have a moral responsibility to pursue this research in an ethical way," he said.
But Republicans charged the bill would create a loophole allowing full-blown human cloning, something that a vast majority of Iowans oppose. Others argued that cloned cells created for research purposes are human life even if they're not allowed to develop.
That argument has led anti-abortion groups to assail the bill.
"What is created is a human being," said Sen. Nancy Boettger, R-Harlan. "It's not fish or fowl, monkey or cow. It is human."
Sen. David Hartsuch, R-Bettendorf, a doctor, opposed the bill.
"A decent respect for human life and dignity requires that we continue to ban this clone-and-kill mentality," Hartsuch said.
Republicans tried and failed on a 28-22 vote to amend the bill to keep Iowa's cloning ban as-is.
Backers of the bill argued that without the bill, research that could help Iowans would happen elsewhere.
"It's like trying construct a house without a tool box that's full," said Dr. Mark Anderson, director of cardiology at the University of Iowa, which is seeking $12.5 million for a stem cell research center.
Todd Dorman can be reached at (515) 243-0138 or at todd.dorman@lee.net
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