Missouri Prop 2

[Phil Lilley]

I just saw a new commercial for this prop #2 - stem cell initative. It was the fire fighers.

I have a big problem with the way they are spinning this issue.

It's all about the $$$$$$$$$... not cures.

This amendment will guarantee state money for research. It's a blank check to research firms to study stem cells.

I also happen to be opposed to it on the ethical side... but the money argument is much simplier to point out without getting into the ethical side of it.

[crappiefisherman]

I personaly think this issue is unethical and we are playing with things we shouldnt be.I understand we might be able to replicate a human body , but can we replicate a soul?

[motroutbum]

I support stem cell research. There is more to it than what the media portrays and the way the general public sees it. It is more than just replicating a human body. They are using the stem cells to combat diesease. It could ultimately lead to a cure for alzheimers. I understand that a lot of people are against it from an ethical standpoint but it would be a huge step towards curing many dieseases including cancer. Maybe my opinion is skewed because I have my degree in Biology, but it is science. and it is not something that should be regulated by the gov.

for what its worth, my $.02

[Phil Lilley]

Stem cell: there are several kinds. Adult, ambilicord, embryo... I support research of stem cell too, but not at that price.

What about the money... the way the amendment is written, the state cannot turn down a request for funds by companies who want to do this research. The ads say, "make $$ available" but it's more than that.

This is a step down a slippery slope- both sides have admitted it. But one wants to go down and the other doesn't.

[motroutbum]

I agree with you there. I dont think that there should be a blank check waiting for them, but i do think that it should happen. Sorry i didnt clarify which stemcell research i was for....adult. Its too bad that all they want is the money. I dont knwo much of what is going on at home as far as all the propostions go right now. Its bad enough that I live in colorado and have no clue whats going on in this state, because in Durango all of our news is from Albequrque. its pretty lame. Its pretty much like if we were to live in Branson and get K.C or Fayetteville news.

[Phil Lilley]

This amendment will give researchers the right to clon human cells for research. They call it something else but it's clonning- they don't deny it.

I have to get up on this subject- wanted to before I posted on the subject cause I don't like to make statements off the top of my head... which I'm doing right now- sorry.

So- I'll be reading alot in the next fews days.

Here's one interview I started to listen to- starts out interesting enough.

http://media-c02m01.libsyn.com/podcasts/e2...esleyJSmith.mp3

[crappiefisherman]

also read the proposed iniative at www://sos.mo.gov./elections/2006/petitions/ppStemCell.asp

[gonefishin]

From an ethical standpoint I am against prop #2 But just as importantly I am against it because of the blank check issue. Actually it is a double dipping issue. There have been billions of tax dollars poured into research and when as a result of the research a product (such as a heart or cancer drug) finally reaches market the drug companies charge the public a fortune for it because "they have to regroup their research money." Huh? Am I missing something? I guarentee if prop 2 passes the tax payers will spend billions on the research and when a new drug or treatment comes about as a result of the research, the tax payers who are ill will get to spend billions again so the researchers can regroup their money.

My vote on prop 2 will be no.

[Al Agnew]

You know, you guys oughta really read the full text of the initiative, rather than listening to all the lies and half-truths being said in all the ads against it.

1. Ads say that the need for stem cells will result in more young college women being "bribed" to donate their eggs for money. Text of the initiative SPECIFICALLY PROHIBITS donation of eggs or blastocysts used in stem cell research for money.

2. The initiative specifically prohibits human cloning. There is a vast difference between human cloning and using already existing blastocysts to clone stem cells.

3. The initiative specifically prohibits producing human blastocysts for use in stem cell research, which means that only extra blastocysts produced as a result of in vitro fertilization can be used. And, it says that such blastocysts may only be used with the informed consent, in writing, of the people from which they come. It also says that such blastocysts cannot be used after a maximum of 14 days of cell division after fertilization (frozen blastocysts don't have cell division, so those produced in in vitro fertilization and kept frozen aren't subject to the 14 day limit).

4. The bill does NOT mandate that the state provide funds for stem cell research. What it does is prohibit the state from withholding funds or failing to provide funds FOR OTHER PURPOSES to entities which are also doing stem cell research. In other words, the state can't coerce researchers doing stem cell research by threatening to withhold non-stem-cell-research funds to them or their organizations. Read the text.

The direction the ads have taken and the claims the anti-stem cell research people have made pretty much sicken me. If you believe that a fertilized egg is completely sancrosanct, even if it will otherwise be kept frozen for a period of years and then discarded, fine. But just stop spreading the misinformation.

By the way, the full text is at www.sos.mo.gov./elections/2006/petitions/ppStemCell.asp

[Phil Lilley]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blastocyst - The Blastocyst is the structure formed in early mammalian embryogenesis, after the formation of the blastocele, but before implantation. It possesses an inner cell mass, or embryoblast, and an outer cell mass, or trophoblast.

http://www.isscr.org/glossary/index.htm - Blastocyst

A very early embryo consisting of approximately 150 cells. The blastocyst is a spherical cell mass produced by cleavage of the zygote (fertilized egg). It contains a fluid-filled cavity, a cluster of cells called the inner cell mass (from which embryonic stem cells are derived) and an outer layer of cells called the trophoblast (that forms the placenta).

This is an interesting link... http://www.advancedfertility.com/blastocy.htm

So I gather by my quick search is that blastocysts are fertilized human embryos which if inserted into a woman would grow to be a human. So then the ethical question is, "when does life start?".

Man is entering a period of discovery that will unlock the Creator's design for life... my question is, will the Creator let him?

I will remind everyone NOT to make this personal. Do not attack or degrade anothers opinion on this subject, as volatile as it is. We can discuss this with respect. I'm looking forward to what our research finds.