TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Gov. Sam Brownback signed legislation Monday aimed at making Kansas the national leader in treatments using adult stem cells and umbilical cord blood by requiring the state's medical school to establish a new research center.
The new Midwest Stem Cell Therapy Center to be set up at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City is the brainchild of anti-abortion legislators and has the strong backing of other abortion opponents. The new law, taking effect in July, will prohibit the center from using its funds or facilities for research with embryonic stem cells or cells from fetal tissue.
But Brownback also was flanked by medical patients as he signed the bill creating the new research center. Among them was Mary Lou Rusco, a 64-year-old retired telecommunications worker from Wichita who was diagnosed with leukemia in 2007 and has seen her cancer remain in remission since receiving cells from two babies' umbilical cord blood in 2009.
"I really appreciate the fact that Kansas is doing this so that other people can have access to this," she said.
Stem cells are thought to have the ability to change in different types of cells, and researchers see promise in using them to treat dozens of diseases, including cancer and Parkinson's. But anti-abortion groups and legislators have long opposed using embryonic stem cells and fetal-tissue cells in research because of the destruction of embryos.
They have argued that therapies using adult stem cells and cord blood are far more promising, anyway. They also anticipated that the state's support for such research will result in medical breakthroughs that will attract funding and resources away from work with embryonic stem cell.
The bill passed both legislative chambers by wide margins. But some legislators, particularly abortion-rights supporters, questioned whether the Medical Center would have to divert resources from existing programs, including physician training, to get the new stem cell center running.
"This is an unfunded mandate," said House Minority Leader Paul Davis, a Lawrence Democrat who voted against the legislation. "It may be a good thing for the state, and there may be a need for that, but we need to involve the universities more."
The Medical Center said Monday that the new center require an average of $1 million a year over the next decade. Lawmakers are setting it up as they're also considering proposals to cut overall state spending on higher education.
The Medical Center noted the potential costs in a statement, but spokeswoman C.J. Janovy said it commends the governor and legislators for interest in stem cell research.
Excerpt from:
Kansas gov. signs bill to create stem cell center