There is something out there that is the cure for every single person with an illness, and it is found in every single person. In knowing this I
wonder to myself, why are people dying young and in pain? Money, money make the world go around. Drug companys would be out of a job. Why is the
other superpowers researching stem-cells and the healing powers they hold, and the great United States isnt?
Some would lead you to believe that its because babies have to die to do the research.
WRONG
I feel that anything that can help many should be done. More so when it comes to money or lives...
We deserve the right to live and live as long as we can. We deserve an open minded person in office, who ever that maybe.
The truth about stem cell research
Medical science is focusing increased attention on research using human stem cells for treatment of a number of serious disorders, including a whole
range of cancers, stroke, and liver disease, to name but a few. Unfortunately, this exciting area of medical study has also been misused by opponents
of the Bush Administration who seek to distort the President's record of support of vital stem cell research.
"Stem cell research is still at an early stage, but the hope it offers is amazing: infinitely adaptable human cells to replace damaged or defective
tissue and treat a wide variety of diseases. Yet the ethics of medicine are not infinitely adaptable. There is at least one bright line: We do not end
some lives for the medical benefit of others. For me, this is a matter of conviction: a belief that life, including early life, is biologically human,
genetically distinct and valuable." This statement by President Bush makes clear his position that stem cell research is necessary, but that careful
attention must be placed to ensure that all human life is protected.
For several years now, liberal politicians and a sympathetic national media have bombarded the American people with a deceptive message about the Bush
Administration's support of stem cell research. Rather than work with Congress and the Administration to further current research, they have chosen
to exploit it as a political tool, misleading the public about the facts by consistently omitting a key point.
To hear opponents tell it, the Bush White House and the Congress are doing all they can to end stem cell research and the wonderful promise such study
can provide patients. The zenith of this criticism was last week's attack on the Bush Administration by Ronald Reagan, Jr. at the Democratic National
Convention. The son of the late president has made no secret of his personal views against the sanctity of life which not only run contrary to the
Bush White House, but that of his late father. He and others would have us believe that President Bush is opposed to stem cell research outright and
that no such research can be conducted unless it be done using human embryos.
This is misleading. The truth is, as President Bush stated above, human stem cell research does offer hope and must continue. Promising results are
already coming from using adult stem cells, and placentas and umbilical cord blood - materials rich in stem cells. The point is we don't have to kill
human embryos and end a life in order to conduct this vital research - something Ronald Reagan, Jr. conveniently left out of his speech.
Under the Bush Administration, Federal funding for stem cell research has increased from zero in 2001 to nearly $25 million today. And, in an effort
to ensure that the nation's inventory of cord blood is genetically diverse and large enough to help patients secure timely transplants, I am
currently a cosponsor of the Cord Blood Stem Cell Act (HR 2852). Specifically, this bill authorizes $15 million in Federal funds during Fiscal Year
2004 and $30 million in Fiscal Year 2005 to subsidize blood centers throughout the nation that agree to collect, prepare, and store the blood units
that would then be available for use in transplantation treatments. The goal is to boost and maintain the inventory at 150,000 units, a supply that
would enable 90 percent of the population to secure an acceptable stem cell match.
Former President Ronald Reagan made clear his views on life in an essay on the tenth anniversary of Roe vs. Wade: "We cannot diminish the value of
one category of human life - the unborn - without diminishing the value of human life." Such is also the belief of President Bush as he pursues
responsible and beneficial stem cell research.
Embryonic stem-cell research will save lives
The week-old (or younger) embryos used for stem-cell research are microscopic groups of four to 50 undifferentiated cells. If the roughly 400,000
embryos that are frozen in fertility clinics and likely to be discarded [Harvard Magazine, July-August 2004] have the same human rights as you and I,
then protest their use for research and think no further.
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Daniel Mongiardo said Tuesday he supported expanding embryonic stem cell research as a possible way to cure a range
of diseases.
"With stem cell research, we're talking about the potential to cure diseases like diabetes, cancer, Parkinson's, and Alzheimer's," Mongiardo, a
physician, said in a statement announcing his position. "I lost my mother to cancer when she was 47 years old. No family should ever have to suffer
that kind of loss."
HEALTH CARE
• Vows to extend health care coverage to more children and low-income adults; supports a Kerry proposal to have the government pay for
"catastrophic" health care cases; would open the health care system covering Congress to the public.
• Opposes privatizing Social Security; opposes raising the age at which recipients can begin to receive retirement benefits; vows to restore "fiscal
responsibility" to the program.
• Opposes privatizing Medicare; says Bush prescription drug program "serves drug companies more than seniors"; vows to lower drug costs.
• Would allow the "safe" reimportation of prescription drugs from foreign countries.
• Would create a "patients' bill of rights" to protect those enrolled in health maintenance organizations.
• Vows to create secure, private electronic medical records for all Americans by 2008.
• Vows to reverse Bush administration's restrictions on government support of stem cell research.
WASHINGTON — If President Bush allows federal funding of research on human embryonic stem cells, half the money might be diverted to the University of
Wisconsin and a biotechnology company to pay royalties and licensing fees on patents, witnesses told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee
Wednesday.
The Bush administration is considering whether taxpayers should pay for research on human embryonic stem cells. The cells, generally removed from
surplus frozen embryos donated from fertility clinics, can transform into any tissue or organ in the human body. Supporters say the cells offer hope
for curing diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, diabetes and cancer. Opponents say the research is immoral because the embryos are destroyed
in the process.
Congress has conducted numerous hearings on stem cells, but the debate has focused on morality and scientific potential. Wednesday's hearing was the
first to look at who will profit if public funding is approved. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who led the hearing, said he learned recently that the
Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), WiCell Research Institute and Geron Corp. of Menlo Park, Calif., hold a virtual monopoly on stem-cell
research.
"We may be involved in a very high-finance issue here," he said.
www.andalusiastarnews.com...
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[edit on 14-10-2004 by SpittinCobra]
