ARTICLE: Local Legislators Make A Difference ... Stem Cell Research Passes By Slim Margin

[Murray Charters <mcharters@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Local Legislators Make A Difference ... Stem Cell Research Passes By Slim Margin
By: Al Sullivan , Reporter senior staff writer
12/21/2003

GETTING IT PASSED - Assemblyman Anthony Impreveduto dispelled misinformation 
when he asked for support of the stem cell
research bill.

Living up to his promise to reintroduce legislation to allow for stem cell 
research, State Assembly Speaker Albio Sires
came up a huge winner as the assembly narrowly passed the bill that is expected 
to be signed into law shortly by Gov.
Jim McGreevey.

The Assembly passed the bill on Monday, Dec.15 by a 41 to 31 majority and will 
make New Jersey only the second state in
the United States to allow embryonic stem cell research in an attempt to find 
treatments for Parkinson's disease,
Alzheimer's and other illnesses.

Hudson County's legislators led the fight to bring about the passage of the 
law, after Sires reintroduced the bill
during the last session of the current Assembly.

When interviewed in November, Sires said the bill faced significant opposition 
from anti-abortion groups and well as a
solid block of Roman Catholic leaders, but he hoped to get the measure through 
the assembly anyway.

One of the key votes came from local Assemblyman Rafael Fraguela of Union City. 
Fraguela had turned Republican earlier
this year after the Hudson County Democratic Organization opted against putting 
him up for re-election as a Democrat.
In voting with the Democrats for the bill last week, Fraguela was promptly 
removed from the Republican Caucus.

Sides of the argument

Assemblyman Anthony Impreveduto, a strong proponent of New Jersey's 
pharmaceutical industry and the principal co-
sponsor of the bill, made an impassioned plea on the floor of the Assembly for 
the passage of the bill. Another strong
supporter was Assemblywoman Joan Quigley.

"Assemblyman Fraguela promised Cohen early on to support this bill," 
Impreveduto said. "He stuck to it."

Assemblyman Neil M. Cohen, a Democrat from Union County, was the other 
co-sponsor of the bill.

Impreveduto said the members of the religious Right conducted a misinformation 
campaign that claimed the bill would
permit cloning.

"This bill specifically outlawed cloning," Impreveduto said. "And it 
established criminal penalties from 10 to 20 years
in jail for anyone who tries."

One opponent of the bill, Impreveduto said, claimed the bill would permit 
"post-birth killing of embryos."

"Post-birth means that the baby is born," Impreveduto said. "In that case, 
anyone conducting such a thing would be
charged with murder."

In yet another attempt to build opposition, opponents claimed the bill would 
permit baby farms from which human parts
would be extracted.

What are stem cells?

Stem cells have two important characteristics that distinguish them from other 
types of cells. Because they are formed
at the earliest part of the human development process, they hold the key to the 
regeneration of heart cells, blood-
making cells in the bones, and oxygen carrying cells. While stem cells do not 
operate in this early stage in those
capacities, they somehow choose to become one of these types of working cells.

Scientists are hoping that through intense study, they can learn how these 
cells make that transformation and they can
later breed cells to repair damaged cells.

"Human stem cell research offers immense promise for developing new medical 
therapies for these debilitating diseases,
and a critical means to explore fundamental questions of biology," Cohen's bill 
says. "Stem cell research could lead to
unprecedented treatments and potential cures for Alzheimer's disease, cancer, 
diabetes, Parkinson's disease and other
diseases. The United States has historically been a haven for open scientific 
inquiry and technological innovation; and
this environment, combined with the commitment of public and private resources, 
has made this nation the pre-eminent
world leader in biomedicine and biotechnology."

"I can understand if people have a legitimate moral concern," Impreveduto said. 
"Then those people had to vote against
it. But I want people to know the facts and not base their vote on 
misinformation."

Impreveduto said this bill does not supply a cure for the various diseases, but 
it a tool that researchers can use to
possibly find a cure.

"This may hold the key," he said, " and I asked the assembly to give me the key 
and let me try in the door. We will
never find a cure if we never get the key."

More on the bill

Medical experts' estimates show that 128 million Americans suffer from the 
crippling economic and psychological burdens
of chronic degenerative and acute diseases. The legislation highlights the 
costs of treating them.

The bill goes on to say that "Stem cell research, including the use of 
embryonic stem cells for medical research,
raises significant ethical and public policy concerns, and, although not 
unique, the ethical and policy concerns
associated with stem cell research must be carefully considered; and the public 
policy of this state governing stem
cell research must: balance ethical and medical considerations, based upon both 
an understanding of the science
associated with stem cell research and a thorough consideration of the ethical 
concerns regarding this research."

Assemblywoman Joan Quigley (D-32nd Dist.) said although the hospital network 
for whom she works full-time does not
favor this research, she does. She intends to vote in favor of the bill.

"I'm coming out very strongly for this bill," she said, noting that the bill 
does not force anyone to donate embryos.
"Those people undergoing fertility treatments have an option to donate the 
excess embryos to science. The research done
could eventually lead to the regeneration of diseased kidneys and in the 
treatment of other diseases."

Quigley pointed out that these additional embryos would otherwise be destroyed 
or frozen for possible future use.

Paul J. Byrne, a local political consultant and someone whose eyesight has 
suffered due to diabetes, testified last
year on behalf of the bill. He said in reaction to the passage, "We are the 
most Catholic county in the state, and all
of our state legislators are Catholic. Yet, they stood up for the people and 
voted for this bill. That was not an easy
thing for them to do. I am personally delighted that this bill passed. It is 
important legislation, and it is not only
the right thing to do, it is absolutely necessary."

Hoboken Councilman Tony Soares, who suffers from Achondroplasia, also had been 
a vocal supporter of the bill.

SOURCE: The Hudson Reporter / Secaucus Reporter, NJ


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