Santorum Stands Behind Adult Stem Cell Research in Coralville

CORALVILLE, Iowa Former GOP Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum returned to Eastern Iowa Wednesday to offer his support for a Coralville research program that will use adult stem cells to find cures for diseases.

Called Give Cures, the program aims to raise money for the John Paul II Stem Cell Research Institute. Santorum announced Wednesday that he will serve as the National Spokesman for the program and urged those in attendance to pray for the programs success, donate, and encourage their church to put up fliers to start a second collection for the program.

There is an ethical way of doing this, Santorum said. Of providing stem cells for research necessary for therapy and treatment, and its not as dynamic or as sexy as stem cell research but it solves a category of diseases, cancer being one of them. Why dont we pursue that?

Previously, stem cell research has typically been focused on embryonic stem cells, which some conservatives, including Santorum, call unethical due to a process that involves the creation, treatment, and destruction of human embryos.

Bob Vander Plaats, president and CEO of The Family Leader, said his organization will partner with the group to spread awareness of the institutes adult stem cell research. Because Vander Plaats formerly served on the states Advisory Board for brain injuries, and has a son with a severe brain disorder, he said this topic is personal for him.

(I worked with) young men and women whose lives were very normal just like you and mine and because of an accident, there they are. And their families would do anything and everything to have some sort of cure so they could walk again, they might be able to talk again, they might have an enhanced value of life, Vander Plaats said. (My wife) and I would love to have a cure for (our son) Lucas but we are not about creating life only to destroy life to benefit another life that is not research. Thats unethical and entirely immoral.

As spokesman, Santorum also said he plans to promote Give Cures through his grass roots mobilization campaign, Patriot Voices.

Kim Lehman, director of Give Cures, said the group hopes to soon have posters up in over 1,000 churches in order to spread awareness. She added Iowa is the first state to start a national campaign to raise awareness for adult stem cell research.

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Santorum Stands Behind Adult Stem Cell Research in Coralville