Iowans on both sides of the debate over stem cell research using human embryos spoke out during a public hearing at the statehouse last night. Gary Mechtensimer of Solon arrived in a wheelchair wearing a button that read "Help us find the cures."
"I just wish that they could realize how many people they would help because I myself have a spinal cord injury plus I had a stroke last March," he said. "If they could do something to help…I personally know that side of it and it’s not a fun thing."
But Archbishop Jerome Hanus of Dubuque, the top Catholic official in Iowa, told lawmakers his faith teaches that all human life is precious, even a cloned embryo. "Let’s listen to what the scientists say, and I can give you dozens and dozens of scientists…on the website ( www.stemcellresearch.org ) where there are 70 reputable scientists — very few from Catholic institutions, almost all from secular institutions — which say there is no doubt that this is human life," Hanus said. "So this is not a question that comes from belief, it’s a question that comes from science. This is human life."
Justin LaVan of Earlham represents the network of Iowa Christian Home Educators and he joined the archbishop in arguing against the practice of cloning human cells in a laboratory. "Most families are absolutely in favor of the type of research that’s being done on adult stem cells, on the ambionic fluid and there’s no mechanisms in our state to even allow us to donate the chord blood from the birth of our child," he says. "Why doesn’t the legislature work on that as opposed to working on what they’re working on right now, which is to kill another life?"
University of Iowa researcher Amy Sparks answered the critics who say there have been no cures found in stem cell research using cloned human embryos. "Why haven’t we seen cures today? Well, we haven’t had the opportunities. We know our colleagues abroad are starting to do some work in the United Kingdom. Some of the states in the United States are now starting to support this research," she says. "Here in Iowa we have a ban. We can’t do any of it yet. Hopefully, when this bill passes, we will."
The Iowa Senate voted 26-to-24 last week to approve a bill which would allow human embryos to be cloned for medical research, but not if the embryos are allowed to grow into a human child. The bill must clear the House and be signed by the governor before it becomes law. Governor Chet Culver has promised to sign it, but House leaders have said there may not be enough votes to pass the bill in the House.
Iowans on both sides of the debate over stem cell research using human embryos spoke out during a public hearing at the statehouse last night. Gary Mechtensimer (MECK-ten-sy-mer) of Solon arrived in a wheelchair wearing a button that read "Help us find the cures."
"I just wish that they could realize how many people they would help because I myself have a spinal cord injury plus I had a stroke last March," he said. "If they could do something to help…I personally know that side of it and it’s not a fun thing."
But Archbishop Jerome Hanus of Dubuque, the top Catholic official in Iowa, told lawmakers his faith teaches that all human life is precious, even a cloned embryo. "Let’s listen to what the scientists say, and I can give you dozens and dozens of scientists…on the website (www.stemcellresearch.org) where there are 70 reputable scientists — very few from Catholic institutions, almost all from secular institutions — which say there is no doubt that this is human life," Hanus said. "So this is not a question that comes from belief, it’s a question that comes from science. This is human life."
Justin LaVan of Earlham represents the network of Iowa Christian Home Educators and he joined the archbishop in arguing against the practice of cloning human cells in a laboratory. "Most families are absolutely in favor of the type of research that’s being done on adult stem cells, on the ambionic fluid and there’s no mechanisms in our state to even allow us to donate the chord blood from the birth of our child," he says. "Why doesn’t the legislature work on that as opposed to working on what they’re working on right now, which is to kill another life?"
University of Iowa researcher Amy Sparks answered the critics who say there have been no cures found in stem cell research using cloned human embryos. "Why haven’t we seen cures today? Well, we haven’t had the opportunities. We know our colleagues abroad are starting to do some work in the United Kingdom. Some of the states in the United States are now starting to support this research," she says. "Here in Iowa we have a ban. We can’t do any of it yet. Hopefully, when this bill passes, we will."
The Iowa Senate voted 26-to-24 last week to approve a bill which would allow human embryos to be cloned for medical research, but not if the embryos are allowed to grow into a human child. The bill must clear the House and be signed by the governor before it becomes law. Governor Chet Culver has promised to sign it, but House leaders have said there may not be enough votes to pass the bill in the House.