Nancy Reagan Calls for Stem Cell Research

Yahoo! News ^ | May 8th 2004 | Reuters

[F14 Pilot]

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (Reuters) - Former First Lady Nancy Reagan made an impassioned call for taking controversial stem cell research out of the political arena, saying it could help cure illnesses like Alzheimer's, which so sorely afflicts her husband.

With the Bush administration and anti-abortion groups strongly opposing stem cell research, Mrs. Reagan at a celebrity-packed dinner in Beverly on Saturday night lent a powerful conservative Republican voice to the debate.

Speaking to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Mrs. Reagan noted that Alzheimer's had taken her husband Ronald Reagan "to a distant place where I can no longer reach him and share our 52 years."

She added after accepting the group's "Care Giver's Award," "Science has presented us with a hope called stem cell research, which may provide our scientists with many answers that for so long have been beyond our grasp. I just don't see how we can turn our backs on this.

"We have lost so much time already. I just really can't bear to lose any more."

[SouthernFreebird]

Just say No.

[F14 Pilot]

More on President Reagan

http://search.yahoo.com/bin/search?cs=nw&p=Ronald%20Reagan

[ArrogantBustard]

From the Article:

Letters from former presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton (news - web sites) supporting Mrs. Reagan's efforts on embryonic stem cell research were read to the dinner by actors Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart. Absent was any comment from the Bush administration which has placed severe restrictions on stem cell research because it can involve using cells from human embryos.

Just say "No" to cannibalism, Nancy.

Ever heard of Adult stem cell research?

[F14 Pilot]

Yeah but we live in 21st Century!

I dont care whom wrote the letters to her or from what political party they are.

[neb52]

Correct me if I have this wrong. But didn't W just ban certain types of stem cell research. Why does the media insist on saying that he opposes or has outright banned stem cell research.

[GraceCoolidge]

Disappointing but not suprising. Given her personal tragedy, her judgment isn't exactly impartial. I suspect President Reagan would view the matter differently. Does anyone else, by the way, get tired of actors like Michael J. Fox with all their impassioned pleas for funding and research to cure illnesses they just happened to get? I feel for him and his family, but it isn't like Parkinson's became our number one public health issue just because he was diagnosed with it. Same goes for Christopher Reeve... was he a big advocate of spinal cord research before his accident? Did he ever donate money to this cause when he was active in his career? I hate to sound mean spirited, and this isn't meant to denigrate their suffering or that of their families, but these "charitable" pitches are a bit self serving, aren't they?

[F14 Pilot]

You are right my friend, but I don't want it to make it political!

[Paul_B]

All he banned was government funding of embryonic stem cell research.

[kimmie7]

Poor Nancy. She's been through so much. She should be oh-so-gently reminded that adult stem cells have recently been found to work just as well.

For anyone interested in this subject, I just finished a great work of Christian fiction that so closely mirrors today's attitudes: Lethal Harvest by Dr. Wm Cutrer. It was awesome! I highly recommend it.

[F14 Pilot]

Actor Michael J. Fox, a supporter of stem cell research because it could help lead to a cure for Parkinson's disease from which he suffers, told reporters that Mrs. Reagan was taking the issue out of politics.

"For someone like Mrs. Reagan to step outside of political or ideological groupings and just speak to what she believes ... can help people is tremendously valuable," he said.

I think this is also what you have to read again! This is not political, this is a scientific thing!

[Vaduz]

Because the media are lib's and they like to filter the truth unless it's about a democRAT.

[Wolfie]

Battlefield conversions are the least convincing.

[neb52]

Ah! thank you, that was what I was thinking oh.

[MJM59]

No. Much easier to say when you have no personal stake in the matter. As far as what President Reagan would or would not say. I always wonder what a person wouold say if they could look into the future and see what Alzheimers and other diseases would end up doing to them. Life is one thing, living is another.

[spetznaz]

Just say "No" to cannibalism, Nancy. Ever heard of Adult stem cell research?

One tenet of human nature is this. Whether something is right or wrong, once the person himself or herself faces an immediate threat to his/her own being, or to that of a loved one (especially a loved one), then established decorum, propriety and assertions tend to break down pretty fast. And a couple of months ago I told this to another freeper, that once embryonic (which are more potent than adult) stem cells start showing results in Europe (where research goes on), and diseases and ailments ranging from Alzhemeirs to congenital heart defects start being treated, then you'll see embryonic stem cell research (and use) in the US rise from the ashes.

Now, I am not saying I support that (so no need for flames). ALl I am saying is within the next decade do not be surprised if the US changes its stance on stem cells, and during the latter part of the decade becomes the leader in both research and use of stem cell based medicine.

It may not seem so now, but people tend to conveniently place their prior beliefs aside when faced with a crisis that has a simple, but controversial, solution. Sad ...but true. Why do you think Job has a book to himself in the Bible, and the whole issue of Peter denying Christ thrice? Standing resolute to beliefs in a crush, when a solution that will take it all away is present, is hard. I myself don't know what I would do, and I always pray that I please God. And many people who say they know, and that they would stand, might be surprised if actually put in such a situation. I pray that never happens.

[grellis]

The umbilical cord is a rich source of stem cells. It becomes nothing more than medical waste post natal...may as well put it to good use!

[kimmie7]

And many people who say they know, and that they would stand, might be surprised if actually put in such a situation. I pray that never happens.

Until God intervened, I thought I was headed to that road. And with His help, I would have and still will STAND.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1065641/posts

[BlackElk]

When some group pushing a leftist agenda item like embryonic stem cell research invites the quite liberal (whatever her marriage may have suggested) Nancy Reagan to speak and receive an award, that is most certainly political as an attempt to divide conservatives by using Ronaldus Maximus's wife as a symbol.

Not only is Nancy Reagan NOT a scientist, she has tended to be an airhead seeking the favorable notice of her husband's political enemies. She participated in the effort of the usual gang of suspects in RR's administration and in the press and media to trap RR into signing peace agreements with Gorbachev before Reykjavik. Fortunately, he acted according to his own wisdom. She also seemed sympathetic to trying to get him to compromise on abortion itself. She failed.

Nancy is now the custodian of the shell of what was once one of our greatest presidents and one of our very greatest conservatives. That does not mean that she should be regarded as speaking for him on matters of public policy.

It must seem terribly unfair to those who have been stricken with devastating diseases or injuries when their careers have suggested that they otherwise would have enjoyed lives of many years of luxury beyond the duration or means of ordinary folks. Christopher Reeves and Michael Fox and Mary Tyler Moore may think it a small price to be paid by an infant to die so that Christopher Reeves may act and steeplechase again, so that Michael Fox may evade the same disorder (Parkinson's) which afflicts John Paul II, so that Mary Tyler Moore can revive her pancreas ruined by Type I diabetes and avoid all those insulin shots and complications.

My life (diabetes) is not more important than the life of some unknown unborn child so as to allow me to benefit from the cannibalizing of that child's tissues to enhance my quality of life. Whether they like it or not, the same is true of Reeves, Moore and Fox and other celebrity disease or injury victims. The end (improvement of the health and quality and duration of life of those crippled by disease or injury) does NOT justify the means of robbing another human being of all of his or her life.

Few of us are atheists or pagans. This entire issue is just another attempt to cheapen the value of human life for expediency's sake and to make an argument that favors abortion and euthanasia.