An initiative to prohibit research involving SCNT - so-called 'therapeutic cloning' - in Missouri has been proposed, by a group calling itself 'Cures Without Cloning'. Missourians narrowly voted in favour for an amendment to their constitution last November permitting the allocation of state funding for stem cell research, including that using SCNT.
Amendment 2, narrowly passed by a 51 per cent majority, was designed to secure the future of stem cell research in Missouri by amending the constitution, thereby preventing the courts from ruling against either human embryonic stem cell research or SCNT as unconstitutional in the future. Opponents at the time claimed the language of Amendment 2 was confusing for voters who did not know exactly what they were voting for.
In their proposals for next year's ballot box, Cures Without Cloning hope to clear up this confusion. On the proposals, Lori Buffa, the group's chairwoman, said: 'The wording of this initiative is simple and clear.We are ensuring access to cures, but adopting a genuine ban on human cloning'. The ballot will alter the definition of 'cloning' prohibited in Amendment 2 to include the creation of 'a new human organism that is virtually identical genetically to an existing or previously existing human organism'. The proposals would also define a 'human organism' as 'a single human egg cell that receives a complete set of 46 chromosomes'. This would include SCNT, not previously encompassed by the prohibition.
Donn Rubin, the chairman of the Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures, who sponsored last year's Amendment 2, accused the opponents of SCNT of being 'anti-cures zealots' putting at risk 'some of the most promising stem-cell research and potentially lifesaving stem-cell cures'. 'This measure is anti-patient, anti-hope, anti-cures and completely unnecessary', said Rubin.
Amendment 2 has made little practical impact in Missouri so far. The Stowers Institute for Medical Research, which donated $30 million to help fund the campaign for Amendment 2, shelved their plans to install a $300 million extension to their facilities owing to a 'persistent negative political climate' toward embryonic stem cell research in the state. Professor Kevin Egga, a stem cell scientist who considered moving to the Stowers Institute voiced his discontent: 'Everybody hoped that Missouri was going to be a good test case'. Adding, 'It was exciting to us that stem cell research was being voted in a state which has very restrictive abortion laws. But it has turned out to be a big disappointment'.
Sources and References
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Group wants to outlaw form of stem cell research
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New Initiative to Ban "Human Cloning" in Missouri
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Stem Cell Amendment Changes Little in Missouri
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Cloning opponents seek initiative toward 2008 Missouri ballot
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New Mo. group targets stem-cell work
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