Opposing Sides Passionate Over Stem Cell Research Initiative

February 24, 2006 Nancy Hughson of Kirkwood is one of the 46,000 state residents who've joined Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative. The group hopes to place a measure on the November ballot to protect such research from interference by state legislators.

"I've joined and I look forward to seeing this on the state ballot," said Hughson. "My son had leukemia when he was a little boy, so I am very sensitive to the need for medical research for life-saving cures.

"My son benefitted from research that had just resulted in some new, approved approaches for his illness," added Hughson. "I don't think we should allow roadblocks to be put up in front of research. I think we should encourage any research in the battle to defeat life-threatening diseases."

Among the groups lining up against the cause of Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative is Missouri Right to Life. Pam Fichter, a Warson Woods resident and the state president of Missouri Right to Life, said she opposes the initiative petition "because it seeks to place the right to clone and to kill in the state constitution."

Fichter said her group is mounting an information campaign against the drive to fill petitions with signatures in support of the stem cell research ballot measure.

"Proponents of the initiative seek to redefine cloning to make it more palatable to the public," said Patty Skain, executive director of Missouri Right to Life. "They seek to redefine when life begins. Pro-life Missourians will not accept this deception.

"From almost the beginning of this debate, proponents of cloning or somatic cell nuclear transfer have insisted that embryonic stem cell research was necessary to find much needed cures for a number of conditions and diseases," said Skain. "This is not the case. We support finding cures with adult stem cell research and therapies that do not require cloning and killing embryos."

Kirkwood's Hughson said talk of cloning and killing embryos is part of a misinformation campaign.

"I disagree with people who equate this research with cloning," stressed Hughson. "It's a smokescreen. It's an effort to misdirect the attention of people who don't understand what embryonic stem cells are.

"I'm a person of faith. I believe that God gave us intelligence to use, and to use in medical science," noted Hughson. "It is very disappointing to me to see politicians trying to stop this research. I distrust their motives. They seem more interested in what will get them some votes, than in what is the right thing to do."

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Opposing Sides Passionate Over Stem Cell Research Initiative