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view
State
allows stem-cell study
Legislation signed Sunday by Gov. Gray Davis
allowing the use of embryonic stem cells
for research goes directly against Bush
administration policy and opens California’s
doors to medical advancements.
Current
federal policy only provides funding for
a limited amount of research on a small
group of stem cells. California’s law will
not provide funding for the research, but
it will unequivocally permit it and allow
discarded embryos from in-vitro fertilization
clinics to be donated to researchers. The
bill requires written consent from women
who have been informed that they have the
option to donate the discarded embryo to
research. The bill also bans the sale of
the embryos.
President
Bush’s mandate has caused many valuable
researchers to become discouraged by the
lack of freedom they have regarding stem-cell
research, thus, forcing them out of the
country where they are able to pursue their
goals.
How
ironic it will be when, in the not too distant
future, these same researchers who have
been forced overseas, develop the cure to
Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s or any other of
the many degenerative diseases that have
destroyed the lives of millions and continue
to do so.
How
many people do you think will have a problem
administering the cure to an ailing family
member? It will assuredly not be near the
amount of people that currently have such
huge moral problems with stem-cell research.
You
can bet that people from the anti-abortion
and religious groups will be lining up to
get the cure just like everybody else, conveniently
forgetting the “sinful nature” through which
it was derived.
This
legislation is a positive implementation
of states’ rights that will attract stem-cell
researchers who have previously conducted
their work abroad to California and provide
for them a supportive environment in which
they can freely continue to work toward
developing cures and treatments to numerous
diseases and conditions.
So
far the federal government has prohibited
most stem-cell research and stifled medical
advancements that could have been made since
the isolation of the stem cells in 1998.
We
hope that other states will follow California’s
lead in using their power to create more
free, researcher-friendly places that will
allow researchers to use stem-cells to ultimately
discover the cures that we so desperately
need.
The
more states that recognize this necessity,
the more likely it will be that the federal
government will recognize it as well, and
finally allow the freedom and provide the
funding that is equally desperately needed
to conduct stem-cell research.
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