blog.bioethics.net

Michigan Stem Cell Battle

Now here's something you don't see every day: in Michigan, the opponents to Proposition 2, a bill about embryonic stem cell research, argue in a television spot that such a bill is "too costly to Michigan taxpayers", says the AP.

Well, it turns out that Michigan Citizens Against Unrestricted Science and Experimentation don't tell viewers that the bill doesn't cost a single cent. The bill is to promote, and only to promote, scientific freedom, and not to fund stem cell research (To see the actual language, read here.)

The legislation asks only to use embryos left over or cannot be implanted from IVF and would be otherwise discarded, and are freely donated by informed consent. The one creative part of the bill is that it directly seeks to prevent the passage of future legislation that would "prevent, restrict or discourage stem cell research, future therapies and cures". This preemptive strike against future administrations or groups that would seek to stifle stem cell research is bold and creative--but Citizens Against Unrestricted Science don't even consider that they just make things up.

In opposition to the ad, CureMichigan kindly points this out saying that while money for stem cell research may be proposed in the future, at present the group is trying to scare Michigan citizens over something the bill doesn't even propose.

So Michiganders watch out, those ads you are seeing about Proposition 2 aren't all they appear to be. Pay attention to the ballot, not the bluster.

Summer Johnson, PhD