NEW JERSEY: Pro-lifers Angry At $6M Proposal For Stem Cell Research

[Murray Charters <mcharters@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

NEW JERSEY: Pro-lifers Angry At $6M Proposal For Stem Cell Research

Tuesday, February 24, 2004
By Terrence Dopp
tdopp@xxxxxxxxxxxx

TRENTON - Gov. James E. McGreevey's plan for government-backed stem cell 
research drew fire Monday, one week after
Asian scientists fired up the heated debate over human cloning.

Scheduled to unveil his $26.2 billion budget for fiscal year 2005 today, 
McGreevey wants to put $6.5 million into
creating a facility for embryonic stem cell research, an amount that he hopes 
to expand to a total of $50 million over
five years.

"What we're talking about here is farming humans through birth for destructive 
research in the state of New Jersey. If
this isn't repulsive, I don't know what is," said Marie Tasy, legislative 
affairs director for New Jersey Right to
Life.

"It is bad enough Gov. McGreevey sold out humanity and ignored the will of the 
people to do the bidding of the biotech
industry," she said, referring to last year's passage of a bill in support of 
stem cell research.

"He is now trying to force this immoral research down the throats of 
taxpayers," Tasy added.

While most researchers believe stem cells could help cure ailments such as 
Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's, debate
over the Garden State legislation revolves around the distinction between 
"adult" and "embryonic" stem cells.

According to scientists, adult cells are the type all humans have within their 
bodies during the course of their lives,
while embryonic stem cells are those at the beginning phase of l        
ife,meaningtheymustbeharvestedfromanembryo.

Ultimately, scientists believe, both types of the undifferentiated 
building-block cells could adapt to form virtually
any type of human cell.

The new discipline is the center of a national controversy.

McGreevey's funding scheme continues a course of action that he and the 
Legislature have already charted to entice stem
cell research into New Jersey. Earlier this year, McGreevey signed a bill 
explicitly supporting the research.

Another bill currently pending in the Legislature would streamline the permit 
process for biotech firms.

Both measures are said to be end runs around President George W. Bush's 
decision to limit research to 67 known lines of
the cells.

McGreevey aides defended the proposed use of state money to support 
controversial research.

"What we view as the ethical issue, the matter of conscience, is having to look 
hundreds of thousands of families in
the eye and telling them we are not doing everything we can," said Micah 
Rasmussen, a McGreevey spokesman.

David Beck, president of the Camden-based Coriell Institute, conducts research 
on the less-controversial adult stem
cells. Although his facility does not conduct experiments on the embryonic 
cells, he believes the research to be
necessary.

"The promise is just too important here to pass up," said Beck. He explained 
that both strains of research are needed
to ensure continuity, especially if one strain proves unsuccessful.

At least one assemblyman is adamantly opposed to McGreevey's support of 
research on human embryonic tissue.

"He's using taxpayer money," said Assemblyman Michael Doherty, 
R-Hunterdon/Warren, a pro-life conservative who is
sharply critical of such research.

"They are creating life then turning around and killing it," Doherty stated.

"To add insult to injury, now we're going to use taxpayer dollars to fund a 
program that millions in New Jersey feel is
immoral," he added.

Some lawmakers support the venture.

Sen. Wayne Bryant, D-5 of Lawnside, said he favors McGreevey's plan.

Bryant's district, which includes parts of Gloucester County, hosts several 
medical facilities as well as the Camden
County campuses of both Rutgers and UMDNJ.

"Stem cell research is important in terms of health ... We should not be afraid 
of it," said Bryant, noting that stem
cell research is different from cloning.

Bryant also asked his legislative colleagues to look past the beginning stages  
     oftheproposedresearch.Hewantsto
ensure that New Jersey sees its share of revenue from any discovery made at a 
state-funded research facility.

"We ought to be at the back end of it," Bryant added.

Senate Minority Leader Leonard Lance, R-Hunterdon/Warren, said he expects the 
proposal to be the subject of much debate
in this year's budget hearings.

In November 2002, a measure encouraging stem cell research cleared the Senate 
with a 25-0 vote. The Assembly approved
it over a year later -- on Dec. 15, 2003 -- by a vote of 41-32 with seven 
abstentions.

The law outlaws human cloning, however, making it a first-degree crime 
punishable by 10 to 20 years imprisonment or a
$200,000 fine or both.

But observers note that the New Jersey law defines "cloning of a human being" 
as the replication of a human individual
by cultivating a cell with genetic material through the egg, embryo, fetal and 
newborn stages into a new human
individual.

Detractors such as Tasy have said that this definition would not prohibit human 
cloning for stem cell research. It
would allow a cloned baby to be born, they say, and then killed for research 
purposes.

McGreevey's funding plan follows the announcement by South Korean scientists 
that they have successfully cloned a human
embryo for research purposes.

SOURCE: The Gloucester County Times, NJ


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