AP: Democratic leaders vow quick action on stem cell bill
By Steve LeBlanc, Associated Press Writer March 2, 2005
BOSTON -- Democratic leaders in the House and Senate said Wednesday they expect to pass a bill by the end of the month legalizing embryonic stem cell research, and predicted they will have the votes to override an expected veto by Republican Gov. Mitt Romney.
House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, D-Boston, told supporters of the bill that he wants to get the legislation to Romney by the end of March.
The bill would clarify existing state law, making it legal to conduct research using embryonic stem cells in Massachusetts. The bill would also specifically ban any research aimed at reproductive cloning.
Senate President Robert Travaglini, D-Boston, predicted the two-thirds majority will be in place to override Romney's veto.
'We're already at two-thirds,' he said. 'We're going to have to override a gubernatorial veto. He (Romney) has made it abundantly clear that he is going to veto the bill."
--snip--
If Democratic leaders are correct, this represents a large victory for American medical research. Boston is home to some of the worlds finest research centers and academic institutions. Depriving these organizations the ability to research stem cells causes innovation to stagnate and allows other countries to gain a strategic advantage in the field of future medicine.
The ethics of human cloning no longer part of the argument in Massachusetts, the stem cell debate inevitably returns to the even more polarizing debate of women's reproductive rights. Those opposed to stem cell research do not want the existence of embryos to facilitate the process. The argument against abortion is the desire to save life. If embryos exist as a result of abortion, they may still be able to save life; by treating and curing illnesses that cannot be healed with current medicine.
The passion invoked by the abortion argument spills incorrectly into the stem cell research debate. Unless our country returns to the dark age of criminalized abortions, and even then, until the last very stem cell was used, why not examine to see what promise the stems cells hold?
Are stem cell opponents afraid of living longer, happier lives?
Or are they afraid of being wrong?
Original Boston.com article can be found here.
BOSTON -- Democratic leaders in the House and Senate said Wednesday they expect to pass a bill by the end of the month legalizing embryonic stem cell research, and predicted they will have the votes to override an expected veto by Republican Gov. Mitt Romney.
House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, D-Boston, told supporters of the bill that he wants to get the legislation to Romney by the end of March.
The bill would clarify existing state law, making it legal to conduct research using embryonic stem cells in Massachusetts. The bill would also specifically ban any research aimed at reproductive cloning.
Senate President Robert Travaglini, D-Boston, predicted the two-thirds majority will be in place to override Romney's veto.
'We're already at two-thirds,' he said. 'We're going to have to override a gubernatorial veto. He (Romney) has made it abundantly clear that he is going to veto the bill."
--snip--
If Democratic leaders are correct, this represents a large victory for American medical research. Boston is home to some of the worlds finest research centers and academic institutions. Depriving these organizations the ability to research stem cells causes innovation to stagnate and allows other countries to gain a strategic advantage in the field of future medicine.
The ethics of human cloning no longer part of the argument in Massachusetts, the stem cell debate inevitably returns to the even more polarizing debate of women's reproductive rights. Those opposed to stem cell research do not want the existence of embryos to facilitate the process. The argument against abortion is the desire to save life. If embryos exist as a result of abortion, they may still be able to save life; by treating and curing illnesses that cannot be healed with current medicine.
The passion invoked by the abortion argument spills incorrectly into the stem cell research debate. Unless our country returns to the dark age of criminalized abortions, and even then, until the last very stem cell was used, why not examine to see what promise the stems cells hold?
Are stem cell opponents afraid of living longer, happier lives?
Or are they afraid of being wrong?
Original Boston.com article can be found here.
posted by Unknown at 1:52 PM
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