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Stem Cell Research



The Church supports the use of  "adult " stem cells in medical research to find a cure for some of the most devastating illnesses our society faces.  It strongly opposes the use of  "embryonic " stem cells in scientific research, since it involves the destruction of a human life at its earliest stage.  Adult stem cell research holds great promise for finding cures to some of the worse illnesses in our society.
June 2008 - U.S. Bishops Statement on Embryonic Stem Cell Research
 
CURRENT NEWS

April 6, 2008 - Embryo-free stem cell research gets boost

STEM CELL RESEARCH  - Excellent article  (Jan. 18,2008) reporting on what states are doing on stem cell research. Connecticut has budgeted $100 million for stem cell research. Although allowed by the enacting legislation to  be used for embryonic or adult stem cell research, the advisory committee overseeing the distribution of the funds has limited it to embryonic stem cell research.

States Vie For Stem-Cell Scientists

November 21, 2007 - Stem Cell Breakthrough Uses No Embryos 

September 11, 2006 - Commentary: Ethical Embryonic Stem Cell Research Experiment Was Just Another Fraud

August 24, 2006 - USCCB Official - New study  provides no "ethical" road to stem cell research

Stem-Cell Sense
One year ago the House voted to pass the Castle-DeGette bill to overturn limits on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. Eric Cohen, director of EPPC's Bioethics and American Democracy program, writes about how scientific and political developments over the past year have begun to change the debate. "The momentum has shifted firmly against the Castle-DeGette bill," writes Mr. Cohen ,"even if most advocates continue to spout the same arguments, and many in the press continue to parrot them." Click here to read more:
http://www.eppc.org/publications/pubID.2638/pub_detail.asp
 
LEGISLATIVE ACTION

2007 and 2008
No activity
 

2006

The Connecticut General Assembly initiated a study  to examine the creation an umbilical cord blood bank in the state, S.B. 311 "An Act Designating the month of November as Lung Cancer Awareness Month and Concerning the Establiment of a Public Umbilical Cord Blood Bank".  The cells (non-embryonic) which are taken from the umbilical cord blood are already being used for various medical cures and are under intense research for many more.  The Stem Cell Advisory Committee has oversight of the new study committee. Hopefully, their bias for embryonic stem cell research will not impact their conclusions. 

Senate Vote on S.B. 311
House  Vote on S.B. 311 

In an effort to address potential ethics code violations, the General Assembly expanded the membership of the Stem Cell Advisory Committee ( H.B. 5843 "An Act Concerning the Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee" ). The State Ethics Commission ruled that many of the members have conflict of interests because they, or the institutions they worked for, primarily Yale and UConn, would directly benefit financially through their votes on the committee. This conflict could still exist in the future, if the membership is not diverse enough. Some House members voted against the bill for this reason. They still felt it still left the allocation of the $100 million for stem cell research open to abuse. The Conference, which was instrumental in having the original conflict of interest provisions placed in the bill,  will monitor this situation.  It was these provisions that raised the concern of the Ethics Commission when it reviewed the current make-up of the Stem Cell  Advisory Committee 

Senate Vote on H.B. 5843
House  Vote on H.B.5843


2005

The Connecticut General Assembly passed, and the Governor has signed, S.B. 934 which endorses embryonic stem cell research and provides $100 million over 10 years for stem cell research. Connecticut now joins California and New Jersey in public funding of embryonic stem cell research. Even though it endorses and funds the unethical and immoral  practice of embryonic stem cell research (which was already allowed in Connecticut), the final bill has several provisions that make it a vast improvement over what was orginally proposed over a year ago.  These provisions, which make the Connecticut legislation more restrictive then the New Jersey and California bills, were strongly pursued by the Connnecticut Catholic Conference. They include: the ability to use the state funding for adult stem cell research,  a 14 day limitation on the growth of the embryo,  forbidding the sale of human eggs which protects women from exploitation, conflict of interest provisions related to those that determine how the money is to be allocated, and the due consideration of embryonic stem cell research guidelines adopted by the National Academy of Sciences.  
     Senate Vote on S.B. 934
House  Vote on S.B. 934 


ARTICLES OF INTEREST 

 To find out more about adult versus embryonic stem cell research go to stemcellresearch.org


Stem Cells Without Moral Corruption, by Robert George and Eric Cohen - July 6,  2006.

The Connecticut Catholic Conference held an educational forum, in 2005, on embryonic stem cell research at the Legislative Office Building on January 20th. The guest speakers were Dr. Micheline Mathews-Roth, an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Dr. Janet  Smith, who holds the Fr. Michael J. McGiveny Chair of Life Issues at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit. 
 Documents:  Dr. Micheline Mathews-Roth(pdf)
 Dr. Janet Smith

STEM CELL RESEARCH AND HUMAN CLONING, Questions and Answers(pdf) by USCCB

Clinical Use of Adult Stem Cells to Help Human Patients - Proponents of embryonic stem cell research have created a false impression that these cells have a proven therapeutic use. In fact embryonic sem cells have never helped a human patient: any claim that tey may someday is extremely speculative.

September 29, 2004 Catholic Official Says Campaign For Embryonic Stem Cell Research Ignores Ethical and Pratical Problems

 September 17, 2004  Fertility Clinics Vary on Embryo Disposal,  Clinics give disposal of unused embryos unexpected reverence.

Proponents of embryonic stem cell research are stressing the availability of  400,000 frozen embryos left over from in vitro fertilization patients that will be destroyed. They are stressing this misleading fact and attempting to downplay the true fact that human life will be created with the intent of destroying it to obtain stem cells. 
Please read The Legend of the 400,000 Embryos.

National Review, Embryonic Stem Cells Are Not All That.

Washington Post, Stem Cells An Unlikely Therapy for Alzheimer's