Posted on 02/09/2005 2:19:03 PM PST by NormsRevenge
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The campaign committee that spent $35 million last year backing California's novel $3 billion stem cell initiative plans to use its considerable fund-raising prowess to fight a federal bill seeking to ban all forms of human cloning.
Robert Klein II, the wealthy Palo Alto housing developer who chaired the campaign, said the organization intends to raise $1 million to fight Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, and his anti-cloning allies in the Senate. A Brownback spokesman declined comment.
Brownback is sponsoring legislation that would ban the cloning of human embryos for any reason, including medical research. Such a law would directly threaten the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, which intends to use some of the $3 billion in voter-approved bond money to dole out grants for so-called therapeutic cloning projects.
Some stem cell researchers say cloning human embryos in petri dishes will help them better understand diseases. Cloning also may offer a way to avoid immune-system rejection after transplanting replacement tissue in sick people. The scientists universally oppose cloning to create babies.
Still, many abortion foes and other conservatives view the work as immoral regardless of its purpose.
"This is clearly going to be a major battle this year," said Larry Soler, the Washington-based chief lobbyist for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
The foundation is part of a Washington, D.C-based coalition of nonprofit organizations supporting stem cell research. The coalition has been battling various anti-cloning proposals almost since the day it formed in 2001. Two similar bills have passed in the House, only to stall in the Senate.
Klein, who also is a board member of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and the campaign committee he headed last year will work with the coalition in its effort to defeat the Brownback bill. Klein also is interim president of the California stem cell institute.
He told reporters of the new campaign last week in San Diego during a meeting of the committee that oversees the institute. Klein didn't return telephone calls Tuesday and Wednesday seeking further comment.
The campaign committee supported Proposition 71, which passed with 59 percent of the vote in November and created the California stem cell institute. The campaign's $35 million in campaign spending was second only to two November ballot measures dealing with Indian gambling.
The campaign is still in debt, owing $1.3 million to vendors. Don Reed, who sits on the campaign committee's board, said that debt will be paid before fund-raising begins for the new effort. Reed also said the committee will hire a professional lobbying firm.
Gee, didn't hear any of this before the election. Okay, if it was mentioned, I missed it.
stem cell research is very promising though.....but I said promising.....no guarantees.....I think Arnold saw that this was gonna fly somewhere and decided that if Calif was the first to give funds, they would reap some later benefit.....I am NOT in favor of any type of cloning and did not even vote for the amendment..........but on this one I guess I'm moderate cause I think there is some science behind it whether it is cord blood, adult or whatever...I guess I'm kind of with Orin Hatch on this so flame away......wish we could not violate any right to life issues and still be able to look into this.......
MY MISTAKE- I was refering to EMBRYONIC
EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH- is NOT PROMISING
adult Stem cells - such as those taken from the nose, bone marrow have already done WONDERFUL things
and also umbilical cords- and no babies have to be killed for that JUST born.
there ya go....we can agree to that....they have actually cured paralzed mice using stem cells and that is nothing to sneeze at.......
I agree stem 'cell research' has tremendous potential, see--http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1339760/posts
However, 'embryonic stem research' portends horrible moral consequences--(we may as well devour our children--I'm reminded of Johnathan Swift's " A Modest Proposal").
I also have serious concerns about the State of California being in this 'business' whatsoever. Now Klein wants the state or its subcommitee to hire a publicity firm to spend more money to attack a federal statute? WTF? Am I missing something?
RD
"Brownback is sponsoring legislation that would ban the cloning of human embryos for any reason"
Klein wants to spend money to defeat this?!
I thought he said Prop. 71 wasn't about human cloning...
See: http://www.genetics-and-society.org/newsdisp.asp?id=668 "Some of them united to place the stem cell initiative on the California ballot, backed by more than $25 million from venture capitalists, wealthy individuals and disease advocacy groups.
California voters approved the measure by 59 percent to 41 percent. Opponents spent barely $400,000."
$25 million (plus another $10 mil.) versus $400,000....Now the chief proponent of Prop. 71 has been appointed to head the state committee by Arnold?
Say NO to Human Cloning--whether adult or embryonic.
don't know......I'm not well versed on this one but I do know that issue will not go away and will be done in foreign countries if not here.....I think Arnold was smart to at least position the state as this state has always been on the forefront of alot of things like bio tech, and tech etc.....we just have to tread caustiously....I tend to be careful speaking about this cause I tend to think that a petri dish is not the same as a human womb.....I know I would get flak for that, but the potential may be considerable so I'm at least willing to listen
My point is that umbilical cord stem cells are a treaure trove of medical possiblilities and are ethically retrieved.
Umbilical cord stem cells are obtained AFTER a child is born and from a morally legitimate area; whereas the source of embryonic stem cells is, of course, from the embryo BEFORE the child is born.
The difference between the two is huge.
By allowing (and PAYING FOR) embryonic stem cell research, we harvest body parts from arguably unconsenting human beings and we feed them to the bio-tech medical research monster. No such concerns with umbilical cord stem cells.
Which leads us to Bob Klein and Arnold moving California in the direction of human embryonic 'cloning'....
(Add this to Arnold's support for Gunther von Hagens' mutilation of deceased humans--ie. 'plastination') and, well, you get the drift...
Disastrous
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