FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 9, 2007

Contact: Matt Sande, Director of Legislation – (262) 352-0890
Peggy Hamill, State Director – (262) 796-1111, cell: (414) 416-0489

PLW Urges Congressional Delegation to Oppose
Embryo Destruction Bill
Measure would lift Bush funding restrictions on human embryonic
stem cell research

As the first session of the 110th Congress opens, the new Democrat majority has made the federal funding of embryo destructive research an immediate priority. On January 11th the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on legislation that would federally fund the destruction of human embryos for stem cell research.

Introduced by Rep. Diane DeGette (D-CO), House Resolution (H.R.) 3 – the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007 – would fully remove President Bush’s federal funding restrictions on human embryonic stem cell research. H.R. 3 would require federal funding of new embryonic stem cell lines derived from the destruction of new human embryos “donated” from in vitro fertilization clinics. Pro-Life Wisconsinites across the state are calling Wisconsin’s congressional delegation to oppose this deadly measure.

“A human embryo is a human being from the moment of fertilization – that is an embryological fact,” said Peggy Hamill, State Director of Pro-Life Wisconsin (PLW). “Sacrificing human embryos – babies in their earliest stages of development – in the name of science is immoral and unnecessary. Forcing taxpayers to fund it is especially offensive. That’s why we’re encouraging pro-lifers statewide to call their congressmen and tell them to vote NO on H.R. 3."

President Bush is the first president to federally fund human embryonic stem cell research. The President’s embryonic stem cell executive order of August 2001 restricted federal research grants to the approximately seventy-eight existing human embryonic stem cell lines and prohibited federal funding of any new lines. In effect, the President said NO to federal funding of the destruction of new human embryos. Although Pro-Life Wisconsin strongly opposed this decision, stressing that federal funding of any and all (past and future) lines should be forbidden, we are nevertheless very concerned about the concerted effort in Congress to fully lift the current Bush restrictions.

“When an embryo’s inner stem cell mass is forcibly extracted to harvest its stem cells, it is necessarily killed,” said Matt Sande, PLW’s Director of Legislation. “Harvesting in vitro human embryos for spare parts will inevitably lead to the creation of cloned human embryos for spare parts. When science debases human life, only bad things can happen.”

Pro-Life Wisconsin fully supports life-affirming adult stem cell research. Obtaining human stem cells from adult tissue is ethically unproblematic and has been clinically successful in treating a wide range of health conditions including breast cancer, ovarian cancer, spinal cord injury, stroke, juvenile diabetes, and cardiac repair after heart attack.

A recent publication in the journal Nature Biotechnology confirms that some adult-type stem cells are nearly as flexible as embryonic stem cells, demonstrating the ability to differentiate into various tissue types. According to the online report, researchers at the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine have found adult-type stem cells in human amniotic fluid that were able to transform into new bone, heart muscle, blood vessels, fat, nerve and liver tissues.

“Adult stem cell research is the only stem cell research with proven clinical application,” said Sande. “And recent research confirms that some adult-type stem cells, such as those from human amniotic fluid, behave much like embryonic stem cells in their ability to differentiate into multiple tissue types. In contrast, embryonic stem cells have never helped a human patient and any claim that they may do so is pure speculation. Congress should spend our tax dollars on biotechnology that is not only ethical but also effective – adult stem cell research.”

H.R. 3 is identical in language to last session’s H.R. 810 that passed the House and Senate and was vetoed by President Bush. The House’s effort to override the President’s veto fell 51 votes short of the required two-thirds majority.

-30-