The peddlers of the cure-all, known as embryonic stem cell research, were dealt a serious blow last week in New Jersey.
A ballot measure that would have forced New Jersey taxpayers to borrow and spend $450 million on the destructive research was rejected in a statewide vote. Proponents of the ballot initiative were led by Democratic Governor Jon Corzine, who personally contributed $150,000 to the cause. These individuals utilized the typical tactics which claim that embryonic stem cell research will provide cures for degenerative diseases. These unfounded claims were easily dismantled by opponents who demonstrated that embryonic stem cell research has yet to find a cure for a single patient and are not likely to do so for decades.
The rejection of the New Jersey’s costly boondoggle is a clear victory for the proponents of moral medical research. Those who advocate spending millions of taxpayer’s dollars on immoral and destructive research that destroys embryos in the name of medical advancement were exposed for what they truly are: peddlers of an unsuccessful and immoral cure-all. While embryonic stem cell research has never produced a single treatment or cure, research using adult stem cells is now treating more than 70 medical conditions. Adult stem cell research does not necessitate killing human embryos, as adult stem cells can be retrieved from umbilical cord blood, bone marrow, the amniotic fluid that surrounds unborn babies, and numerous other sites in the human body.
Nathan Salley was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia at the age of 11 in 1997. Two years later, he was one of seven children to receive a cord blood transplant. Testifying before a Congressional committee in 2001, Salley proudly declared, “Embryonic stem cell research did not save me; cord blood research did. I am living proof that there are promising and useful alternatives to embryonic stem cell research and that embryos do not need to be killed to achieve medical breakthroughs.”
Some Rhode Island political leaders such as Congressman James Langevin and Lt. Governor Elizabeth Roberts have joined the effort to sell the same style “cure all” of embryonic stem cell research to Rhode Islanders. They should heed New Jersey’s failed attempt to borrow and spend millions on unproven scientific research.
Taxpayers certainly don’t want millions wasted on an unlikely promise of immoral scientific experiment. It is high time that politicians support the moral research of adult stem cell research rather than a “feel-good elixir.”
