Stem cell research backers taking 400,000 signatures to Lansing on Monday
Posted by Ted Roelofs | The Grand Rapids Press July 06, 2008 05:29AM

Press Photo/Delbridge Langdon Jr.
Seeking relief: Kathy Muir, 66, visits with her husband, William, 71, who has Lou Gehrig's disease and needs a breathing machine.


GRAND RAPIDS -- Statewide battle lines of money and morality are being drawn as backers of embryonic stem cell research are set Monday to turn more than 400,000 signatures in Lansing.

If approved by voters, the proposed constitutional amendment would allow researchers to use excess embryos from fertility clinics with written permission of the donor.

The controversial measure is expected to spark pricey advertising wars, as proponents tout potential medical and economic gains and opponents warn of the destruction of human life.

East Grand Rapids resident Kathy Muir, 66, believes the research promise is too good to pass up.

"Why are we holding ourselves hostage on this?"


Muir's husband, William, 71, was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease about 18 months ago. He is now dependent on a breathing machine 24 hours a day.

Muir is hopeful embryonic stem cell research can offer an avenue for a cure.

"I would just hope that, somewhere along the line, we would look at every option to find a cure," Muir said.

David Doyle isn't buying it.

Spokesman for a grassroots group that opposes the measure, Doyle -- executive vice president at Lansing's Marketing Resource Group and former state GOP chairman -- said embryonic stem cell research is already legal in Michigan.

Doyle questioned whether restrictions on the source of stem cells are holding it back.

"It's been happening here for years," he said.

In Michigan, embryonic stem cell research is restricted to existing stem lines imported from other states.

The University of Michigan's Center for Stem Cell Biology conducts the only such research in the state, one of only three embryonic stem cell research centers funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Sean Morrison, who directs the U-M Center, believes the restrictions are holding the state back from one of biology's most promising research frontiers.

Against Michigan law

Under Michigan law that dates to 1978, scientists are banned from research that would destroy human embryos for non-therapeutic purposes.

Another measure makes it a crime -- with a penalty of up to $10 million and 10 years in prison -- to perform therapeutic cloning, the transplant of DNA from an individual into an embryo to grow tissue or organs.

Doyle maintained the proposed expansion could open the door to cloning, in addition to the killing of human embryos.

"We all want cures but not at the price of restricted science and experimentation," he said.

Advocates, including Gov. Jennifer Granholm, say it makes good economic sense for the state, beyond its potential for cures for everything from diabetes to Parkinson's disease to spinal cord injuries.

Opponents, including the Michigan Catholic Conference to Right to Life of Michigan, counter that adult stem cell research and other forms of research have rendered embryonic stem cell research superfluous.

They point to research on skin cells that indicates they can be converted to embryonic stem cells. That further undercuts the need for using embryos for research, they say.

Backers of the ballot measure plan a campaign budget of at least $10 million.

As an early warning shot, Right to Life of Michigan pumped $200,000 earlier this year into a four-week TV campaign against the proposal.


http://blog.mlive.com:80/grpress/200...ckers_tak.html