LANSING, June 3, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The State of Michigan has legislation in place that prohibits cloning and the use of existing human embryos for stem cell research, but the ban will not last long if a bill passes the State Senate to appropriate public funding for the research.
Michigan legislators supporting a US $1 billion appropriation of public funds, some of which would be earmarked for cloning and embryo research, employ the now-standard propaganda: we need to kill embryos so we can use them for their stem cells in order to obtain cures for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.
The supporters of the research also lament the prospect of loss of jobs and state revenue from a ban on so-called ‘therapeutic cloning.’ David Hollister, director of the Governor’s Department of Labor and Economic Growth, said funding this research is critical to stopping the “brain drain” to other states.
The Michigan Catholic Conference has issued a media release stating the “clone-and-kill” theory of medical ethics is unacceptable. “The proposed legislation represents an ideology that says by spending public tax dollars to clone human beings and destroy living embryos the state will be addressing its economic concerns,” said Conference Vice President for Public Policy Paul A. Long. “The Michigan Legislature should look at more reasoned and ethical approaches to bring jobs to the state rather than relying on ‘clone and kill’ public policy measures.”
The bill has not yet come to the Senate floor but, early reports say that the ‘no’ side is winning and that pro-abortion “Catholic” Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm is going along. Legislation in both chambers specifically bars state money for embryonic stem cell research. The deadline for putting the bond on the ballot, which requires a two-thirds vote of the House and Senate, is Sept. 6
“Whether supporters of the proposed legislation use the term ‘therapeutic cloning’ or ‘somatic cell nuclear transfer,’ at the end of the day it still requires cloning human beings and conducting research on stem cells lines derived from the killing of living embryos,” said Long. “We encourage science to research life-threatening conditions, but it must never be exempt from moral and ethical imperatives. Adult stem cell research offers the promise and record of considerable success.”
Read Michigan Catholic Conference media release:
https://www.micatholicconference.org/pdf/releases/20050526-EmbryonicStemCellBill.pdf
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