Lawmakers Vow to Block Stem Cell Research
Lawmakers Vow to Block Stem Cell Research
March 13, 2009
Jackson Free Press
Mississippi Rep. Tommy Reynolds, D-Charleston, spoke for the University of Mississippi Medical Center yesterday, saying the teaching hospital has never and never plans to do stem cell research, according to WAPT.
In opposition to President Barack Obama’s March 9 executive order 13505, “Removing Barriers to Responsible Research Involving Human Stem Cells," the Mississippi House approved a budget bill that explicitly says no state money can be used “for research that kills or destroys an existing human embryo.”
The full state legislature will negotiate the final state budget this month.
UMMC is Mississippi’s only teaching hospital.
Scientists at the National Institutes of Health have been long-time advocates of stem cell research, which “have the remarkable potential to develop into many different cell types in the body,” according to the NIH Stem Cell Web site.
“Research on stem cells is advancing knowledge about how an organism develops from a single cell and how healthy cells replace damaged cells in adult organisms. This promising area of science is also leading scientists to investigate the possibility of cell-based therapies to treat disease, which is often referred to as regenerative or reparative medicine”
The organization acknowledges that research “on one kind of stem cell—human embryonic stem cells—has generated much interest and public debate.”
Some people in the pro-life movement, believe that human life begins at the moment of fertilization, and that using embryonic stem cells in research—which destroys them—is the same as murdering any other human being.
On the other side of the issue, researchers believe that stem cells can potentially save countless lives, promising treatment and cures for a myriad of medical conditions from reducing transplant risks to healing spinal cord injuries and birth defects.
Researchers typically use cells extracted from surplus frozen embryos left over from in vitro fertilization procedures performed at fertility clinics, according to the NIH and other Web sites debating the ethical issues, including the Religious Tolerance site. Those cells are frequently discarded.
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