LifeBeat for December 29, 2007

Barbara Listing, president of Right to Life of Michigan, looks back at what has happened with prolife issues in Michigan over the last year. To listen, click here.

LifeBeat for December 22, 2007

Michelle Burke, field representative for Right to Life of Michigan, shares about the March for Life and bus trips leaving Michigan for this annual event in January. To listen, click here.

LifeBeat for December 15, 2007

Wesley Smith talks again about human cloning and the hubris of some scientists who believe they have a right to cloning. He also discusses what happens when society begins down the slippery slope on bio-ethical issues. To listen, click here.

Critical Reading on Stem Cell Research

At StemCellResearchCures.com, we've started a new series which will provide commentary on recent news articles on stem cell research. We've also posted a critical reading which allows visitors to read what Michigan's laws against human cloning and killing human embryos for research actually say.

Critical Reading #1 discusses an article entitled "More travel overseas for stem cell therapy" which was published in the Detroit News on November 29, 2007.

Critical Reading #2 provides links to Michigan's legislation on human cloning and killing human embryos for research and provides a brief explanation of these laws.

Critical Reading #3 reviews an article entitled "Stem cell discovery might help state life-sci industry" which was published in the Ann Arbor Business Review on December 6, 2007.

Tags: stem cell research, human cloning, michigan

LifeBeat for December 8, 2007

Wesley Smith again discusses human cloning for research and the dangers of a society which doesn't recognize the intrinsic value of human life. To listen, click here.

Tags: human cloning, stem cell research, wesley smith

Life Facts - From Mice to Men ... within 6 months

First the famous "mouse study" made headlines last June, with Prof. Shinya Yamanaka from Japan, who successfully reprogrammed mouse skin cells back to an embryonic state. As little as 6 months later, this procedure has been duplicated in humans! This new method known as direct reprogramming, produces iPS (induced pluripotent state) cells all without harming, cloning or destroying embryos. James Thomson from the University of Wisconsin and Shinya Yamanaka from Kyoto University in Japan are responsible for this unquestionable huge advancement. Consequentially, Prof. Ian Wilmut, the scientist who cloned Dolly the sheep, has announced that he has halted cloning experiments using somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) stating, "this [direct reprogramming method] is the future of stem cell research." Science itself is putting to rest the controversial stem cell debate. Researchers can now venture full speed ahead, with support from all sides, to find cures without delay.

James Thomson, the first to isolate human embryonic stem cells in 1998, said it best, "Isn't it great to start a field and then to end it?" These leading scientists have come full circle, admitting there is no future in embryonic stem cell research.

Read the articles linked below in their entirety:

Dolly Creator Prof. Ian Wilmut Shuns Cloning

New Stem Cell Method Could Ease Ethical Concerns

Man who helped start stem cell war may end it

LifeBeat for December 1, 2007

Wesley Smith again discusses human cloning and the difficulties researchers have obtaining human eggs. He also talks about how obtaining human eggs can endanger the health of women. To listen, click here.

Tags: human cloning, stem cell, wesley smith

Stem cell letter to the Michigan Daily

The following letter was submitted to the Michigan Daily in response to a recent editorial on stem cell research.

In a recent editorial, the Michigan Daily claims opponents of killing human embryos for research are "running out of reasons." Sadly, this editorial never explained what Michigan's "draconian laws" are nor did it explain how these laws were hurting Michigan. It claims Michigan is falling behind in stem cell research and then provides no evidence for this claim.

The editorial asserts "there is no chance" that human embryos "destroyed" for their stem cells "would otherwise be allowed to mature into actual human beings." Besides incorrectly assuming human embryos aren't "actual" human beings, this statement ignores the growing number of human embryos who have been adopted by couples struggling with infertility. One such former embryo named Frank Geisen recently appeared with his parents who testified against changing Michigan's laws.

The editorial also inaccurately claims embryonic stem cells "are the most readily available, flexible and understood choice." Embryonic stem cells are not more readily available or understood than adult stem cells which are in every single one of our bodies and are currently being used to treat patients. Recent research into creating pluripotent stem cells by reprogramming skin cells (which are quite easy to obtain) shows those reprogrammed cells are just as flexible as embryonic stem cells.

The editorial is correct about one thing: the tide on this issue is turning. It's turning sharply away from those who think killing human embryos is the answer. Recently, voters in New Jersey turned down an effort to spend $450 million on embryonic stem cell research. On November 20, two sets of researchers revealed they created pluripotent stem cells by reprogramming adult cells. Pluripotency is the asset in embryonic stem cells which some researchers crave. Now researchers have a simple, ethical way of obtaining patient-specific pluripotent stem cells from patients without killing human embryos.

Tags: stem cell research, michigan daily

Michigan abortionist Alberto Hodari says doctors have a "license to lie"

The Medical Students for Choice group at Wayne State University invited abortionist Alberto Hodari to speak to their group on November 9, 2007. Prolife students associated with Students for Life of America attended the event and videotaped Hodari's speech. They've posted the majority of the speech online and have also posted a short part of the speech on their website where Hodari says that doctors have a "license to lie" because patients "are more educated between CNN and the internet." He says doctors have a license to lie after explaining how he lies to prevent the boyfriends of women having abortions from being in the room during the abortion. Hodari explained that he says "the state says no" even though he knows there is no state regulation to prevent boyfriends from being in the room with their girlfriend during an abortion.

Students for Life of America also supplied Right to Life of Michigan with a transcript of Hodari's speech which they created.

Besides the numerous faulty statistical claims throughout the rambling, unstructured speech, Hodari noted that he performs abortions on women who are 20 weeks pregnant and their reason for abortion is because their boyfriend left them, he has performed 11 abortions on one woman who continually comes back to his clinic for abortions, says he doesn't wear a mask while performing abortions, washes his hands for less than a minute before performing an abortion and is proud he performs abortions.

Throughout the speech, Hodari continually discussed how rare abortion complications supposedly are. It should be noted that in 2004, a 15-year-old girl from Detroit named Tamiia Russell died after having an abortion at Hodari's Womancare abortion clinic in Southfield. Russell's death from abortion complications was never reported to the Michigan Department of Community Health and Hodari never mentioned Tamiia Russell during his speech.

Tags: alberto hodari, wayne state, abortion, michigan, tamiia russell

Stem Cell Advance Makes Michigan Cloning Legislation Irrelevant

In light of new developments in adult stem cell research announced from two continents, proposed Michigan legislation to advance embryonic stem cell research through cloning has become irrelevant.

Recently, the Michigan House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on bills that would overturn Michigan laws which prohibit the killing of human embryos for research. The central bill in the package, H.B. 4616, sponsored by Representative Andy Meisner, would also allow researchers to kill cloned human embryos for research.

Researchers from Japan and Wisconsin reported today that human skin cells have been reprogrammed to act like embryonic stem cells. This historic announcement ends the need to extract stem cells from human embryos or the need to clone human embryos for cells. The need for killing unique human embryos for research is over.

Right to Life of Michigan Legislative Director Ed Rivet said, "The days of killing embryos to harvest stem cells is over. It's time to put this unethical research and this irrelevant legislation on the scrap heap of history. We're ecstatic that the focus of research will now be on stem cell techniques that will bring breakthrough cures as quickly as possible."

Tags: human cloning, stem cell, michigan, legislation

LifeBeat for November 24, 2007

Wesley Smith talks about human cloning and attempts by researchers in Britain to create cloned human embryos using eggs from animals. Some researchers want to use animal eggs in attempts to created cloned human embryos because human eggs are difficult to obtain. To listen, click here.

LifeBeat for November 17, 2007

Deb Peters, director of embryo services at Bethany Christian Services, discusses embryo adoption. Human embryos who have been frozen at in-vitro fertilization clinics can be adopted by couples looking to adopt. To listen, click here.

Tags: embryo adoption

LifeBeat for November 10, 2007

Kris Faasse, director of adoption services at Bethany Christian Services, talks about the process of adoption and what services her organization provides to women looking to place a child for adoption and couples looking to adopt. To listen, click here.

Tags: adoption, bethany christian services

Jack Lessenberry giving false information on stem cells to his listeners

Jack Lessenberry, a newspaper columnist and journalist who has a radio program on Michigan Radio, recently used his radio program to attack Right to Life of Michigan and Michigan's laws which prevent human cloning and the killing of human embryos for research.

In his essay, which he read on the radio, Lessenberry makes a number of false claims, including numerous false claims about Michigan's laws. He writes, "we can't do (embryonic stem cell research) at all in Michigan," "we have outlawed it totally," and wonders what could happen if "the University of Michigan's medical school were free to work on stem cell research."

Below is the text of a message I left on Lessenberry's blog pointing him to numerous web pages which clearly show that embryonic stem cell research is not illegal in Michigan and has been going on for a number of years.

The University of Michigan is "free to work on stem cell research."

Researchers at the University of Michigan are working on human embryonic stem cells right now and have been doing so for a number of years. They even received a 3-year federal grant for more than $2 million dollars (around $750,000 a year for 3 years) for this research in 2003.

The University of Michigan has a policy statement on which human embryonic stem cells they use.

The University also has a question and answer on embryonic stem cell research which notes:

"What kinds of human embryonic stem cells can be used in U-M research?

U-M research studies funded by the National Institutes of Health or other federal funding agencies are restricted to existing stem cell lines, created before August 9, 2001, and listed on the NIH Human Embryonic Stem Cell Registry. Privately funded U-M research studies can be conducted with new cell lines not listed in the NIH registry, as long as they meet the conditions outlined in the university's official policy statement..."

The University of Michigan even has a Michigan Center for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research.

So it seems that the University of Michigan is "free to work on stem cell research" and has been doing so for quite some time. What they're preventing from doing is killing human embryos for research or attempting to create cloned human embryos through somatic cell nuclear transfer. Why does Jack Lessenberry act like Michigan law prevents researchers from using embryonic stem cells when it is clear as can be that they do use embryonic stem cells?

Unfortunately, numerous journalists in Michigan have failed to properly research what is legal and illegal in Michigan and have too often been misled by proponents of cloning and killing human embryos.

Tags: michigan, embryonic stem cell, jack lessenberry

Letter to the Grand Rapids Press

On November 3, 2007, the Grand Rapids Press printed the following letter in response to a Press story on stem cell research and a possible ballot proposal to overturn some of Michigan's prolife laws.

The Oct. 28 Press featured an article on embryonic stem cell research, Michigan's prolife laws and economic growth ("Money vs. morality"). While I believe it was fair in letting both sides air their views, a few items should be addressed.

Cloning is not "the transplant of DNA from an individual into an embryo." Human cloning is an attempt to create a cloned human embryo using a technique called somatic cell nuclear transfer where the nucleus of an individual's cell is removed and placed into an egg whose nucleus has been removed. This is the same technique used to create Dolly the sheep. Some researchers hope to create cloned human embryos and then kill them for their stem cells. They euphemistically call this "therapeutic cloning."

Sean Morrison, director of the U-M Center for Stem Cell Biology and one of the founders of OncoMed Pharmaceuticals, seems to insinuate that Michigan's law preventing human cloning and the killing of human embryos for research played a role in OncoMed's moving to California. OncoMed's Web site doesn't indicate their research involves killing human embryos or human cloning but rather trying to find ways to kill certain stem cells in adults which lead to cancer. This type of research isn't illegal in Michigan. It seems the more likely reason why OncoMed's investors wanted to move to California was because all of their investors are either based in California or have offices there.

LifeFacts - Paraplegic's Own Stem Cells Bring Recovery

Kevin Krohn from Manitou Beach, Michigan was left a paraplegic after a car accident in 2001 crushed his spinal cord. In 2005, Kevin traveled to Portugal to undergo a procedure grafting stem cells from his nasal membrane to his spinal cord to rebuild nerve connections. He felt better immediately after the surgery, “I could feel my bladder fill.” He is continually improving through intensive physical therapy back in Michigan. Adult stem cell pioneer Dr. Carlos Lima said that the extent of Kevin's improvement was “quite unexpected” since he was one of the most severely injured patients he has treated.

Meanwhile, Krohn took his auto insurance company to court after they refused to reimburse the $51,000 in costs and claimed the procedure was experimental and not “reasonably necessary” according to Michigan's no-fault laws. A Lenawee County Circuit Court jury decided in Krohn's favor on November 2, 2007.

For more information, click here.

LifeBeat for November 3, 2007

Kris Faasse, director of adoption services at Bethany Christian Services, discusses the various kinds of adoption and some incorrect perceptions people can have about adoption. To listen, click here.

Tags: adoption, bethany christian services

LifeBeat for October 27, 2007

Dr. Rich Poupard from Life Training Institute discusses human cloning and talks about how to respond to the claims of those who are in favor of human cloning for research. To listen, click here.

Abortion Death in Massachusetts

On September 13, 2007, a young woman from Massachusetts named Laura Smith died after undergoing an abortion at Cape & Island Center for Women's Health. Recently, the Cape Cod Times has printed one article about Laura's death and another article about how the abortionist was forced to hand over Smith's medical records. The death of Laura Smith along with the deaths of countless other women who have died from legal abortion shows that making abortion legal doesn't make it safe.

Life Facts - Kids with sickle-cell disease cured with stem cells from umbilical cord blood

Children struck with the genetic disease of sickle-cell or thalassemia (a hemoglobin abnormality), were cured after receiving an umbilical cord blood transplant from their siblings. Ninety percent of the 43 children in the study were cured. The results were reported at the 35th annual convention held by the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America and the National Institutes of Health in Washington, on September 20, 2007.

One of the patients, Matthew Damm, was born with thalassemia requiring a transfusion every few weeks starting when he was 6 weeks old. He also had a needle inserted in his stomach to extract excess iron from his body, almost every night. Matthew underwent a transplant of stem cells from his baby sister's umbilical cord two years ago. Today Matt is an energetic 7 year old who knows that his little sister Hannah saved his life.

The biggest drawback to eliminating this difficult disease is finding enough cord blood donors to provide the wide range of tissue matches necessary. Michigan passed a law last year that would establish a network of cord blood stem cell banks as well as increase public awareness as to the benefits of donating cord blood at birth, however due to our fiscal crisis it is not funded.

For more information, click here.

LifeBeat for October 20, 2007

Mary Verwys, a sidewalk counselor from Grand Rapids, talks about the dangers to women who have abortions and how sidewalk counselors love both the woman and her child. To listen, click here.

Michigan Citizens for Stem Cell Research and Cures gets big donation from Taubman

On October 16, the Detroit News published an article noting that A. Alfred Taubman (a very wealthy real estate developer) has donated $1.4 million dollars to the Michigan Citizens for Stem Cell Research and Cures. The article also notes that Taubman has pledged to financially support a possible ballot initiative to repeal Michigan's prolife laws.

The Michigan Citizens for Stem Cell Research and Cures is a pro-embryonic stem cell research organization which is working to overturn Michigan's prolife laws which prohibit human cloning and killing human embryos for research by promoting embryonic stem cell research. Their web site was taken down for weeks in the fall of 2006 after Right to Life of Michigan issued a press release noting false and plagiarized information on their web site.

For more information on stem cell research, please visit www.stemcellresearchcures.com.

LifeBeat for October 13, 2007

Mary Verwys, a sidewalk counselor from Grand Rapids, discusses what sidewalk counselors do and what is the most difficult thing for sidewalk counselors. To listen, click here.

LifeFacts - Adult stem cells restore function to paralyzed patients while media blackout of success continues

Patients who have been paralyzed from 4 years to 22 years, had their own bone marrow stem cells extracted from their hip bone and transplanted into their spinal cord, resulting in restored bodily functions at Luis Vernaza Hospital in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Dr. Louis Geffner presented the report on September 17 at the 2007 Congress of Neurological Surgeons Annual Meeting in San Diego. Of the 25 patients who underwent the procedure and provided follow up, 15 gained the ability to stand up, 10 could walk on parallel bars with braces, 7 could walk without braces and 5 could walk with crutches. Three recovered full bladder control and 10 regained some sexual function. There were no side effects or adverse reactions at all, because the patients' own stem cells were used, nullifying the tissue rejection issue. This study proves that bone marrow stem cells are safe and effective for spinal cord injury patients while increasing their quality of life. Despite this ground breaking progress which actor Christopher Reeve foretold would come, the media is reporting none of it because it involves adult stem cells.

For more information, click here.

Stem cell resources

The Right to Life of Michigan web site has some new fliers on stem cell research in PDF format which can be downloaded, printed, and distributed to friends and family.

The Embryonic Stem Cell Research Money Trail discusses how some embryonic stem cell researchers are currently fighting over patent rights and how some embryonic stem cell researchers are focused on more than just treating patients.

Facts on Stem Cell Research shares some breakthroughs in life-affirming adult stem cell research and some other stem cell research facts.

Denominational Statements Regarding Stem Cell Research provides the positions of various religious denominations on embryonic stem cell research.

The Great Stem Cell Debate: Understanding the Options compares and contrasts adult stem cell research and embryonic stem cell research.

Tags: stem cell research, michigan

LifeBeat for October 6, 2007

Denise Burke, Vice-President of American United for Life, discusses prolife legislation and explains why her organization ranked Michigan as the #1 state for defending life.

Life Facts - Long term cure for incontinence using patients own stem cells

Researchers from the Medical University of Innsbruck in Austria are calling the treatment using the patient's own stem cells a cure for incontinence. Researchers extracted muscle stem cells from the patient's upper arm. The adult stem cells were cultured with collagen and grown in the lab for seven weeks where they differentiated into pre-muscle cells and connective tissue. The cells were then injected into the patient's urethra and rhabdosphincter muscle. By using the patient's own stem cells there is no tissue rejection issues, because the cells are biocompatible. Out of 186 men and women in the study, 153 did not need pads after one year following the treatment.

Incontinence affects more than 15 million Americans. In the near future this stem cell treatment could not only improve the quality of life for those affected, but lessen hospital and nursing home stays. The savings of health care dollars could be substantial.

For more information, click here.

One less abortionist in Michigan

In July, I blogged about a Detroit television station's three-part story about an abortionist in Detroit. The story exposed the abortionist as being willing to violate some of Michigan's prolife laws. He was also working in unsanitary conditions and offering abortions for a low price.

On September 27, WDIV (the same station which ran the original story on the abortionist) revealed the Michigan Department of Community Health suspended the abortionist's license as a result of WDIV's investigation and story. The license suspension order cited 13 counts which led to the suspension of his medical license including negligence, incompetence and "a lack of moral character."

LifeBeat for September 29, 2007

Dr. Daniel Pepin talks about why the public hears so much about embryonic stem cell research when those stem cells aren't working. Embryonic stem cells don't help patients, they help patents. To listen, click here.

Tags: stem cell research, patents

LifeFacts - Human brain stem cells found to have embryonic-like properties

Researchers have found that adult stem cells taken from a human brain may have the same characteristics as embryonic stem cells, thus negating the need to destroy embryos for their stem cells. Researchers from the University of Florida's McKnight Brain Institute took mature human brain cells from epilepsy patients to generate new brain tissue in mice. These adult brain stem cells can be coaxed into producing large amounts of new brain cells that not only could be used to treat one patient, but many more.

Now for the numbers ... Dennis Steindler, Ph.d., said that they can take a single brain cell out of an adult and theoretically "generate enough brain cells to replace every cell of the donor's brain and conceivably those of 50 million other people." These newly discovered human brain cells may be the key to unlocking the cures to brain disorders like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, strokes and others. This is a first, knowing the ability of human brain cells to change into different cell types.

For more information, click here and here.

Tags: stem cell research

LifeBeat for September 22, 2007

Dr. Daniel Pepin discusses how the public has become confused on stem cell research and shares how even some proponents of embryonic stem cell research are backing away from some of the original hyped claims.

Stem Cell Editorial in the Lansing State Journal

Ed Rivet, Right to Life of Michigan's Legislative Director, had the following editorial on stem cell research published in the Lansing State Journal. You can view it online here.

Let's seek cures that don't involve killing or cloning

Let's start with the facts about embryonic stem cell research:

1. Embryonic stem cell research is entirely legal in Michigan and is ongoing here with taxpayer and private dollars.

2. Killing live human embryos for research purposes is not legal in Michigan.

3. Couples with "leftover" embryo-stage offspring frozen in fertility clinics can donate them for destructive research. The researchers must be in another state.

4. Couples can release their embryonic children for adoption by infertile couples here.

5. Legislation being proposed on human embryo stem cell research allows for the trafficking and killing of cloned human embryos in Michigan. Under the bill, cloned human embryos created by the same technique as Dolly the sheep, could be imported into Michigan and killed like laboratory rats.

To repeat, there is no ban on embryonic stem cell research. There is a ban on killing live human embryos for research. For years, Michigan researchers have been obtaining embryonic stem cells from other states and countries to do their research. Having to buy steel from Pittsburgh has never stopped Michigan from making cars.

The reason researchers want to kill embryos to create new stem cell lines is - no surprise - money. Specifically, they want to control patent rights on any treatment developed from their embryonic stem cells. If researchers use stem cells from another state to develop a treatment, they might have to share the profits with out-of-state researchers. That's it; that is the real reason they want this legislation. It has little to do with being able to do the research and absolutely nothing to do with the well-being of patients. Just Google "embryonic stem cells patent" and read all about it.

Proponents of embryo destruction argue that "leftover" embryos are currently not protected by law; they are just being "thrown away," and shouldn't be "wasted." Agreed, human life should never be thrown away or wasted. Frozen embryos can be given a chance at life through embryo adoption. While other states kill embryos for profit, we in Michigan can offer them a chance at life. We adopt pets from animal shelters. We even "adopt" highways to keep them clean. Infertile couples are waiting to adopt any child, even a frozen one.

Embryonic stem cell research is unnecessary and unrestrained. Nearly every week clinical studies are announced showing real advances using stem cells derived from many sources including umbilical cord blood, amniotic fluid, skin, muscle, hair follicles, baby teeth, even fat. These "adult" stem cells are showing more and more flexibility as research continues. Researchers have already reprogrammed mouse adult stem cells to behave exactly like mouse embryonic stem cells.

The debate over embryonic stem cells, which are a decade or more from producing results (if ever), is a distraction from the adult stem cells already helping people with dozens of debilitating diseases. Proposed legislation would allow for the trafficking and killing of cloned human embryos in Michigan. The facts are clear, we don't need to clone and kill embryos to find cures.

LifeBeat for September 15, 2007

Dr. Daniel Pepin talks about some facts and fiction regarding stem cell research. He also discusses why there are so many incorrect beliefs about stem cell research.

Tags: stem cell research

Life Facts - Missing Egg Donors & Missing Eggs

Harvard University has spent thousands of dollars on newspaper ads attempting to entice women to donate their eggs for embryonic stem cell research. Hundreds of women responded initially, but none have donated. Undoubtedly learning of the numerous injections, repeat office visits, dangerous side effects, and the surgery requiring general anesthesia to remove the eggs stripped the benevolent veneer off the egg donation process for these women.

Meanwhile, in California, thousands of human embryos and eggs may be missing from fertility clinics. The discrepancy involves 596 embryos and 2,189 eggs unaccounted for, involving 80 medical facilities, 102 physicians and 229 donors. This unfolding debacle is on top of the 2003 case of California's Options Fertility Registry being forced out of business when donors brought a slew of lawsuits after discovering their eggs were being sold without their permission.

These unethical behaviors are reminiscent of the abuses perpetrated by fraudulent South Korean researcher Hwang Woo-Suk, who coerced female assistants to donate their eggs. Embryonic stem cell advocates continue to ignore the reality that their research and proposed cures will require millions of human eggs, and that demand brings enormous ethical and dangerous consequences with it.

For more information, click here and here.

Tags: stem cell research, egg donors, human embryos

Skylar Anne Green, R.I.P.

On Tuesday, September 4, 2007, Representative Kevin Green and his wife Chele discovered their unborn daughter died in the womb. Chele was seven months pregnant.

Here is the story from the Grand Rapids Press about the loss of their first child. I'm sure Kevin, Chele and their family would appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

LifeBeat for September 8, 2007

Maureen Coffey, Director of Marketing, Sales and Events for Right to Life of Michigan, discusses Right to Life of Michigan's upcoming Annual Conference on September 22.

LifeBeat for September 1, 2007

Photojournalist Michael Clancy again discusses the photograph he took of Samuel Armas, a 21-week unborn child, holding the hand of the surgeon who was operating on him while in the womb. He also discusses where this photograph has been featured.

LifeBeat for August 25, 2007

Photojournalist Michael Clancy discusses the famous picture he took of baby Samuel Armas (an unborn child at 21 weeks) holding the hand of the surgeon who was operating on him in the womb. He also talks about how taking this picture and viewing this in-utero surgery changed how he thought about abortion.

Michael Clancy will be speaking at Right to Life of Michigan Annual Conference on September 22, 2007.

Letter to the Cadillac News

The following letter to the editor was submitted to the Cadillac News after they ran this article regarding stem cell research in Michigan and an event put on by the Michigan Citizens for Stem Cell Research and Cures:

A recent article in the Cadillac News provided an inaccurate explanation of Michigan's law on killing and cloning human embryos and the current efforts to overturn those laws. Legislation (H.B. 4616) introduced by Representative Andrew Meisner and supported by the Michigan Citizens for Stem Cell Research and Cures isn't designed to "strengthen the state's ban on human cloning." It's designed to legalize the creation and destruction of cloned human embryos. The current law, which was passed with a large bi-partisan majority, bans human cloning and provides penalties of up to 10 years and/or $10 million dollars. Rep. Meisner's bill would change this law by legalizing the same cloning technique (somatic cell nuclear transfer) which created Dolly the sheep as long as those cloned human embryos are killed for their stem cells. You can't strengthen a ban on human cloning by legalizing human cloning. Hopefully, The Cadillac News and its readers will be wary of claims made by the Michigan Citizens for Stem Cell Research and Cures.

LifeBeat for August 18, 2007

Brittany Millan, Right to Life of Michigan's Oratory Contest winner, talks about her experience in the oratory contest, her speech and importance of young people speaking up for life.

Stem cell letters published

The Detroit News has published a variety of letters responding to Alfred Taubman's editorial on embryonic stem cell research. They also published my longer letter.

LifeBeat for August 11, 2007

Pamela Sherstad, Director of Public Information for Right to Life of Michigan, talks about some of the reasons why women have abortion. She also talks about what Right to Life of Michigan is doing to reach out to women considering abortion.

Stem cell memo

Right to Life of Michigan's Legislative Staff sent the following memo to Governor Jennifer Granholm and Michigan lawmakers regarding a recent editorial on stem cell research in the Detroit News by A. Alfred Taubman:


Attached please find an editorial from today's Detroit News by Alfred Taubman claiming that Michigan's law prohibiting destructive research on human embryos is holding back advances on stem cell research and Michigan's biotechnology sector. Here are several important points – and omissions – to note:

• The caption written by the News under the researcher's photograph claims U-M "can use adult and umbilical chord [sic] stem cells in research in Michigan, but not ones from embryos." This is false. Research on stem cells taken from embryos is legal and is being done in Michigan with federal tax dollars.
  

• Taubman is either confused or making an important omission when he refers to "critical work" being done in California that in Michigan would net scientists a 10 year prison sentence or $10 million dollar fine. Destroying "leftover" human embryos for research purposes does not carry that penalty. Cloning human embryos does carry the 10/10 penalty. Are U-M researchers directing cloning in California?
  

• Taubman and embryonic stem cell advocates never mention that to create genetically matched embryonic stem cell treatments for millions of patients, millions of cloned embryos will have to be created and destroyed.
  

• The real reason researchers want to be able to destroy embryos themselves to create stem cell lines is to preserve lucrative patent rights. They won't say it, but it comes down to money.
  

• Mr. Taubman urges the entire state to "have the discussion" about stem cell research. Agreed! Let's have the WHOLE discussion, starting with who wants to clone and kill human embryos and who says cures can and are being found without such unethical research.
  

LifeBeat for August 4, 2007

Pamela Sherstad, Director of Public Information for Right to Life of Michigan, discusses the recently released Michigan abortion statistics for 2006. She also talks about the importance of reaching out and providing help and encouragement to women who are pregnant.

Stem cell letter to the Detroit News

The following letter to the editor was sent to the Detroit News in response to this editorial on embryonic stem cell research by A. Alfred Taubman. The Taubman editorial is one of a series of editorials which falsely claim embryonic stem cell research is banned in Michigan.

A. Alfred Taubman's editorial on August 1, contained a number of inaccurate claims. Taubman falsely claimed that "embryonic stem cell research is essentially illegal in Michigan." It's amazing how the University of Michigan received more than $2 million in federal tax dollars to do something which is "essentially illegal." In Michigan, it's illegal to kill human embryos for research. Human cloning is also illegal and punishable by up to 10 years in prison. These laws don't prevent researchers from importing and experimenting on embryonic stem cells. A case in point is the University of Michigan.

Taubman also bemoans how supposedly hard it is for Michigan universities to recruit researchers because of Michigan's laws against killing embryos. That's an odd claim considering the director of the Life Sciences Institute at the University of Michigan was quoted in the Ann Arbor News on September 26, 2006, as describing their five new faculty researchers as "really first-rate" and "the top recruits in the country." In addition, this fall biochemistry experts Stephen Ragsdale and Ruma Banerjee plan to make their move to the University of Michigan. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln said it was losing two of its most prized researchers.

It should also be noted that the answer to the question of when the life of a human being begins isn't a "very personal matter." It's a scientific fact proponents of killing human embryos would prefer to ignore.

Tags: michigan, stem cell, taubman, detroit news

Life Facts - Kaitlyne's Bladder

Regenerative medicine has gone the extra mile by producing a fully functional custom made bladder for Kaitlyne McNamara, who was born with spina bifida and a diseased bladder. Sixteen year old Kaitlyne is one of the first people to receive a complex human organ grown from her own stem cells. Once incontinent, she hasn't had any embarrassing accidents and is enjoying her new social life.

Researchers at Children's Hospital in Boston extracted a small section of the diseased bladder, then Kaitlyne's healthy adult stem cells were isolated and placed on a "scaffold" made of collagen, layer by layer. By seven weeks the cells developed into a functioning organ and then sewn to what was left of the patient's partially working bladder. Since the bladder was created using Kaitlyne's own stem cells, her body did not reject it.

"This suggests that tissue engineering may one day be a solution to the shortage of donor organs in this country for those needing transplants," said Dr. Anthony Atala, the lead researcher, who also published breakthrough research using amniotic stem cells in early 2007.

For more information, click here and here.

LifeBeat for July 28, 2007

Musician and songwriter Larry Hover discusses his song "Celebrate that Baby." The song is designed to celebrate human life, born and unborn. The proceeds from the sale of this prolife song will be donated to Right to Life of Michigan. To learn more about this song, you can visit Larry's website, www.larryhover.com.

Life Facts - Singapore facility halting research using embryonic stem cells for lack of success

ES Cell International (ESI) opened in Singapore seven years ago to draw scientists in hopes of establishing itself as a biomedical hub. Alan Colman, a stem cell pioneer who helped clone 'Dolly the sheep', and former chief executive of ESI halted research on human embryonic stem cell therapies because of lack of interest on the part of investors. "The likelihood of having products in the clinic in the short term was vanishingly small," said Alan Colman. Robert Lanza, vice president for R&D at Advanced Cell Technology in Worcester, Massachusetts said, "What the field badly needs is one or two success stories."

While investors are pulling out of hESC research, successful therapies are happening as we speak using adult stem cells. Policy makers who spend taxpayers' money should expect a return on their investment. Time is money and it is better spent on substantiated, undisputed ethical lines of research - namely, non-embryonic stem cells.

For more information:
Science, July 2007: Vol. 317. no. 5836, p. 305

LifeBeat for July 21, 2007

Amanda Peterman, Life Media Project Coordinator for Right to Life of Michigan, discusses Right to Life of Michigan's online efforts to educate the public about prolife issues and reach out to women in unplanned pregnancies.

Undercover news team exposes a Michigan abortionist breaking the law

Last week, WDIV, a television station in Detroit, aired a three part story on an abortionist in Detroit who is performing abortions for a low price ($150) six days a week in a messy rundown building.

The first part of the story features an interview with a woman whose cousin recently had an abortion at this abortionist's clinic and experienced complications. The second part takes a hidden camera into the squalid office and reveals the abortionist is breaking some of Michigan's prolife laws including Michigan's informed consent and parental consent laws. The third part delves into the doctor's past and reviews the information in the previous two parts of the story.

Tags: abortion, detroit

LifeBeat for July 14, 2007

Amanda Peterman, Life Media Project Coordinator for Right to Life of Michigan, discusses Right to Life of Michigan's prolife educational work through media. Broadcast television, radio, print and internet advertisements have been used to spread the prolife message throughout Michigan.

LifeBeat for July 7, 2007

Ed Rivet, Legislative Director for Right to Life of Michigan, discusses the Legal Birth Definition Act and provides an update on what is happening with this legislation. This legislation would prohibit partial-birth abortion in Michigan but was unfortunately recently ruled unconstitutional by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

LifeBeat for June 30, 2007

Scott Klusendorf, President of the Life Training Institute, again talks about making a persuasive case for the prolife position. It is often important when discussing abortion to ask people who are pro-choice to back up the criteria they use to discriminate against the unborn with reasons why their criteria are valid.

Tags: scott klusendorf, abortion, prolife, pro-choice

Andy Meisner's False Stem Cell Claims

During his appearance on Off the Record (a public television program focusing on Michigan politics) on June 22, 2007, Representative Andy Meisner made a number of false claims regarding the issue of stem cell research and his legislation to legalize the killing of human embryos for research and the creation and destruction of cloned human embryos. You can view this program online here.

Meisner claimed there is a ban on embryonic stem cell research in Michigan despite the fact there is currently research involving embryonic stem cells occurring at the University of Michigan and the University of Michigan received a large 3-year federal grant to perform research on embryonic stem cells in 2003. Embryonic stem cell research is not banned in Michigan. Killing or experimenting on human embryos for research is banned in Michigan. This doesn't prevent researchers from experimenting on embryonic stem cells.

Meisner claimed legislation passed in 1998 was the "second ban on stem cell." Meisner is referring to Michigan's ban on human cloning which was a package of bills passed in 1998 with unanimous votes in the Michigan Senate and with 85+ votes (out of 110) in the Michigan House. Meisner and other proponents of human cloning for research typically avoid telling people they are in favor of human cloning for research or if they do they'll frequently use terms like "nuclear transfer" or "somatic cell nuclear transfer" because they know the majority of people are very uncomfortable with human cloning and creating human embryos solely for research. They also know that many people aren't familiar with the terms nuclear transfer and somatic cell nuclear transfer.

Meisner also claimed his legislation was about doing embryonic stem cell research restricted to stem cells taken from embryos leftover from in vitro fertilization. Yet Meisner's legislation would legalize the killing of cloned human embryos (which aren't "leftover from in vitro fertilization). His legislation would allow researchers to kill human embryos created by human cloning. Meisner's legislation (H.B. 4616) says, "A person may use a live human embryo to derive stem cells for nontherapeutic research if those embryos were from either of the following sources:" and then lists the following as a source,

"Notwithstanding section 16274, the utilization of a somatic cell nuclear transplantation procedure which was for the sole purpose of creating nuclear transfer blastocysts for the extraction of embryonic stem cells. As used in this subdivision, "blastocyst" means an embryo..."

In other words, his legislation legalizes the killing of a live human embryos (blastocysts) created by human cloning (somatic cell nuclear transplantation procedure) as long as they were created for the sole purpose of being killed for their stem cells.

Meisner is on the advisory board of the Michigan Citizens for Stem Cell Research and Cures. Their web site describes human cloning for research (which they call nuclear transfer) by saying, "Nuclear transfer is a laboratory procedure that creates embryos for use in stem cell research; sometimes referred to as ‘therapeutic cloning.'" On another page they describe Meisner's legislation by saying, "Proposals being considered by some policymakers would lessen state restrictions on stem cell research by removing restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, allowing for the creation of stem cells through nuclear transfer."

Unfortunately, Andy Meisner has not been honest with the Michigan people about Michigan's current law and what his legislation would do. If the people of Michigan are so in favor of human cloning and killing human embryos for their stem cells then why does Andy Meisner need to lie about his legislation?

Tags: andy meisner, stem cell research, human cloning, michigan, legislation, off the record, michigan citizens for stem cell research and cures

LifeBeat for June 23, 2007

Scott Klusendorf, President of the Life Training Institute, talks about making a persuasive case for the prolife position. Though the unborn are smaller, less developed, in a different environment, and have a different degree of dependency than most born people, none of those differences make the unborn less valuable than born human beings.

Life Facts - Human heart valves grown from ethical adult stem cells

For the first time, British researchers have grown part of a human heart from stem cells extracted from bone marrow in the lab. Dr. Adrian Chester, was able to grow small discs of heart valve tissue with the help of scaffolding made of collagen. Later this year, this tissue will be implanted into animals to monitor its effectiveness.

Many people who suffer from heart valve disease have artificial replacements, which have limitations. Sir Magdi Yacoub, Professor of Cardiac Surgery at Imperial College in London, said, "The way a living valve functions, it anticipates haemodynamic events and responds and changes its shape and size. It's completely different from an artificial valve which will just open and shut." If the trials prove to be successful, Professor Yacoub predicts the heart valves will be implanted in patients within three to five years.

Fifteen million people died of cardiovascular disease in 2005. Replacement valves grown from ethical sources of stem cells could save many lives in the very near future.

For more information, click here.

President Bush Vetoes Legislation to Use Tax Dollars for Embryonic-Killing Stem Cell Research

On June 20, President George W. Bush vetoed legislation to expand the federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. The bill, S. 5, would have broadened which embryonic stem cell lines researchers could use in federal funded experiments.

Right to Life of Michigan President Barbara Listing said, "President Bush has again boldly prevented American taxpayers from being compelled to fund the killing of human embryos. Advances in life-affirming forms of stem cell research continue to prove we do not need to kill the smallest, most vulnerable human beings in order to successfully treat those who are suffering."

According to the National Institutes of Health, the federal government has spent $122 million on research using human embryonic stem cells in the last four years and plans to spend an additional $74 million in the next two years. The University of Michigan received a federally funded grant to experiment on human embryonic stem cells in 2003. This research has not treated a single human patient.

"Right to Life of Michigan will continue to educate the public on the advances in adult stem cell research and research using stem cells found in umbilical cord blood and amniotic fluid through our StemCellResearchCures.com web site. Unfortunately, many people have been deceived into believing that embryonic stem cells offer their only hope of being cured," said Listing.

LifeBeat for June 9, 2007

Ed Rivet, legislative director for Right to Life of Michigan, discusses anti-life legislation introduced in Lansing to legalize the creation and destruction of cloned human embryos. Ed also discusses how information about where women can obtain free ultrasounds is now on the state of Michigan's web site.

LifeBeat for June 2, 2007

Ed Rivet, legislative director for Right to Life of Michigan, talks about prolife legislation which has been introduced in the Michigan legislature, including the Citizen Accountability Act.

LifeFacts - Follow the $$$

James Thomson is known as the first scientist to successfully isolate human embryonic stem cells (hESC) at the University of Wisconsin back in 1998. Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) holds the patent to this landmark invention along with two others, boasting they own the rights to all hESCs in the U.S. However, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a preliminary decision stating that they may throw out the patents, since the science is not new and was based on previous work. WARF, who charged hundreds of thousands of dollars for the use of the patented stem cells, challenged the decision.

Jeanne Loring, director of hESC research at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research in California said, "The patents are impeding our research. They're more important than what's going on in the [U.S.] Senate right now." She said, "It is making scientists go overseas to do this sort of research. It isn't the funding that's sending us overseas. It's the patent issues."

Michigan, a hub of biotech research, continues to discover new breakthrough therapies, using ethical forms of stem cells, while operating within the law.

For more information, click here.

June/July/August 2007 issue of the RLM News

The June/July/August issue of the Right to Life of Michigan News has been posted online. The issue focuses on stem cell research and also has articles on the release of Jack Kevorkian, an update on partial-birth abortion and how information about free ultrasound is now posted at the state of Michigan's web site.

Letter to the Detroit Free Press published

The Detroit Free Press published letters to editor from both Right to Life of Michigan and the Michigan Catholic Conference today in response to a misleading editorial on stem cell research from Liz Barry.

LifeFacts: Adult stem cells improve the mobility of dogs with muscular dystrophy

Scientists from Italy experimented on six dogs afflicted with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, using stem cells derived from ethical sources. Stem cells were collected from the muscle tissue of both healthy dogs and from dogs with MD. The stem cells extracted from the dogs with MD were modified in the lab to correct the gene. The dogs who received stem cell transplants derived from the healthy dogs benefited more than the dogs who received their own 'corrected' stem cells. Four of the dogs regained muscle strength, while two did not. One of the two died and the other showed no improvement, possibly needing higher doses of the treatment.

Once human trials begin, it would be ideal for those afflicted with MD to be treated with their own 'corrected' stem cells in order to alleviate the rejection issue. Much progress has been made; much more research must be done. Experience proves over and over again that the prospect of finding cures lies in using ethical sources of stem cells.

For more information, click here.

New information on Stemcellresearchcures.com

Two new sections have been added to Right to Life of Michigan's web site focused on stem cell research.

One section, Facts v. Myths, addresses various myths regarding stem cell research and another section,Cloning Facts, discusses human cloning.

LifeBeat for May 26, 2007

Clarke Forsythe, President of Americans United for Life, talks about why the recent Supreme Court ruling on partial-birth abortion was different than a past ruling by the court on this issue. He also talks about how states can now pass new prohibitions on partial-birth abortion.

Tags: partial-birth abortion, Clarke Forsythe

Life Facts - Insulin-secreting cells produced from ethically extracted stem cells found in umbilical cord blood

No need to look any further than umbilical cord blood from living babies to ethically obtain stem cells to produce insulin needed by diabetic patients. Colin McGuckin, professor of regenerative medicine at the University of Newcastle, Ireland, made a major breakthrough by producing insulin-secreting cells from cord blood for the first time. Although insulin has also been derived from embryonic stem cells (ESC), it is not transplantable because the tissues do not match, and ESCs tend to have a problem of growing into cancerous tumors.

McGuckin explains that this "process [using cord blood stem cells] is so effective that embryonic stem cells are not needed altogether." There is no controversy extracting cord blood for experimentation or transplantation since obtaining it is not harmful to the donor, it is in ready supply, and with proper banking, tissue matches will be plentiful. Investing in this vital life science will in turn, save massive amounts of health care dollars.

For more information, click here.

LifeBeat for May 19, 2007

May 19, 2007 - Clarke Forsythe, President of Americans United for Life, again discusses the recent ruling on partial-birth abortion by the U.S. Supreme Court. This ruling implies that states may have greater room to pass legislation which limits abortion.

Tags: clarke forsythe, partial-birth abortion

LifeFacts - University of Michigan snatches highly sought after biochemistry researcher from the University of Nebraska

The competition is fierce among research universities securing top world renown scientists and the grant dollars that come with them. Anuja Ghorpade, the University of Nebraska Medical Center's top researcher, has gotten offers for more money, more lab space and more prestige for the last 13 years. It wasn't until she was offered a position from the University of Michigan that she could not refuse.

Does this suggest that the laws in Michigan governing biotechnology research are not too restrictive? Could Dr. Ghorpade's decision to move, suggest that Michigan is a prestigious hub of life science's best and the brightest? U of M currently has 349 endowed chairs and is in the process of raising "$425 million to supplement the salaries of top professors and researchers." Dr.Ghorpade's expertise is not in stem cells, but in brain diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and HIV-related dementia. She will truly be an asset to our state's life science corridor. For more information, click here.

Letter to Detroit Free Press on stem cell research

The following letter was submitted to the Detroit Free Press regarding this misleading editorial by Liz Barry in the Free Press.

A recent editorial in the Free Press by Liz Barry insinuated that embryonic stem cell research "could boost Michigan(‘s) economy." Absent from the editorial was any explanation of how allowing the killing of human embryos for research would help Michigan's economy. Other states which are supposedly leading the way in embryonic stem cell research have provided researchers with millions upon millions of state tax dollars (which Michigan doesn't have with its current budget crisis). In other words, embryonic stem cell research doesn't bring money in, it typically asks taxpayers to foot the bill.

The editorial also states researchers have "voluntarily adopted rigorous guidelines" including "only using embryos slated for disposal." Why then are embryonic stem cell researchers like Sean Morrison strongly behind the legislative efforts of Rep. Andy Meisner to legalize the cloning of human embryos so they can be killed for research?

Proponents of embryonic stem cell research have been promising cures for years and they've received more than $100 million dollars from our federal government to conduct their research. Yet no human disease is anywhere near being treated with embryonic stem cells. Now they're promising an economic "boost" without any explanation. Don't buy the hype.

If space permitted the letter would have also discussed the fact that the vast majority of human embryos at fertility clinics aren't available for research. Instead, around 90% of those human embryos are being saved by their parents in the hopes of initiating a pregnancy in the future.

LifeBeat for May 12, 2007

Clarke Forsythe, President of Americans United for Life, discusses the recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on the federal ban on partial-birth abortion. In a 5-4 decision, the court upheld the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003.

LifeBeat for May 5, 2007

Lauren Migliore, President of Students for Life of Michigan, talks about her organization, their goals and what they're working on. Students for Life of Michigan work to make sure the prolife message is heard on college campuses because a large number of abortions are performed on college-aged women.

Letter to the Oakland Press

The following letter was submitted to the Oakland Press in response to this misleading story regarding stem cell research:

An article in the May 10th edition of the Oakland Press focusing on the efforts of the Michigan Citizens for Stem Cell Research and Cures (MCSCRC) got a number of facts wrong.

First, the article claims Michigan is "one of the last states in the nation not allowing" embryonic stem cell research. This is an odd claim considering the University of Michigan has received more than $2 million dollars from the federal government to work with embryonic stem cells. Michigan law doesn't ban embryonic stem cell research. It bans human cloning and the killing of human embryos for research purposes.

Second, blastocysts are not "fertilized eggs." Blastocyst is a scientific term used to describe embryos, in this case human embryos, at a certain stage of development. Embryos don't develop from blastocysts since blastocysts are embryos.

The article also fails to note the legislation (H.B. 4616) sponsored by Andy Meisner would legalize the creation of human embryos by human cloning through a process known as somatic cell nuclear transfer. Proponents of this legislation don't want the public to know they're in favor of human cloning for research because they realize most people in Michigan recognize it is never ethical for a researcher to create human embryos solely for the purpose of killing them for their cells.

For a group which is supposedly dedicated to educating the Michigan public about stem cell research, the Michigan Citizens for Stem Cell Research and Cures sure do spend a lot of time providing reporters with inaccurate information.

Tags: stem cell research, cloning, Meisner, Michigan Citizens for Stem Cell Research and Cures

Life Facts - Embryonic Stem Cell "Whoppers"

No wonder the public is confused about the advancements and failures of stem cell research, embryonic or otherwise, when the following double-speak is published by prominent political figures who have either been mislead or intentionally misrepresent the truth for political purposes. U.S. Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said, "I've met with two patients that have been treated with embryonic stem cells." To date, no human trials using embryonic stem cells are even close to being done.

Speaking of 'whoppers', former U.S. Congressman, Joe Schwarz stated, "Hundreds of thousands of unwanted blastocysts are discarded as medical waste each year." What are his sources? Another false claim he made was, "Another thing happening because of restrictions is, (research is) going offshore." Nothing could be further from the truth.

The former Governor of Iowa, Tom Vilsack, stated in his 2006 State of the State address that at the time he signed the original ban on cloning, "... we never dreamt that new treatments dependent upon such [nuclear cell] transplants [sic] would be developed so quickly. Well, they have been, and as a result we should revisit our ban on nuclear cell transplants."

Huh? There are no treatments.

Iowa's State Rep. Patrick Murphy wrote that, the legislation to lift the ban on cloning, " ... authorizes the creation of embryonic stem cell lines, which are not even close to actual embryos. There is no sperm involved in somatic cell nuclear transfer, so there can be no embryo." How does one get embryonic stem cell lines without embryos? James Thomson of the University of Wisconsin, the first to isolate embryonic stem cells, explained that, "If you create an embryo by nuclear transfer, and you give it to somebody who didn't know where it came from, there would be no test you could do on that embryo to say where it came from ... you're creating an embryo."

For more information visit here and here.

Tags: stem cell research

Letter Printed in the Detroit News

On May 2, the Detroit News printed a letter from Right to Life of Michigan regarding embryonic stem cell research and legislation introduced in Michigan to legalize human cloning for research.

LifeBeat for April 28, 2007

April 28, 2007 - Richard Doerflinger, Deputy Director of the Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, discusses how inefficient human cloning for research is. He also talks about how states should focus their attention on adult stem cell research.

Tags: richard doerflinger, human cloning, stem cell research

Detroit News gets it wrong on embryonic stem cell research

Below is a letter to the editor which was recently sent to the Detroit News by a Right to Life of Michigan staff person in response to a recent editorial of theirs on embryonic stem cell research:

A recent Detroit News editorial inconceivably states, “Embryonic stem cell research should be allowed in this state” as if it was somehow not allowed. Last November, the Detroit News ran a lengthy article about how the University of Michigan was raising money to do experiments on human embryonic stem cell lines which aren’t funded by the federal government. The U of M was also awarded a multi-million dollar federal grant to work on federally-approved human embryonic stem cells back in 2003.

Michigan law prohibits the killing of human embryos for research purposes and the creation of cloned human embryos, not embryonic stem cell research. Legislation introduced by Representative Andrew Meisner wouldn’t legalize embryonic stem cell research in Michigan since it’s already legal. Meisner’s legislation would allow human embryos created by in vitro fertilization to be killed for research purposes and also explicitly allow the creation of human embryos through cloning and mandate their destruction.

Michigan doesn’t need to clone and kill human embryos to move science forward. That’s one reason why numerous countries like Germany, France, Canada, Japan and many more have banned human cloning for research. They also likely understand there are grave dangers in treating human embryos as if they were nothing more than mere commodities.

Tags: stem cell, cloning, Michigan, legislation, Detroit News, Andrew Meisner

LifeBeat for April 21, 2007

Richard Doerflinger, Deputy Director of the Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, talks about why proponents of embryonic stem cell research promise cures when no one is anywhere being treated with embryonic stem cells. He also discusses human cloning for research.

U.S. Supreme Court upholds ban on partial-birth abortion

On April 18, 2007, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a decision to uphold the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003. This federal law banned a procedure in which unborn children are partially-delivered before being killed but was challenged in court by various abortion providers. The ban will now take effect and prevent abortionists from using this brutal procedure to kill children who are more born than unborn.

To read, Right to Life of Michigan's press release, click here.

Life Facts - Type 1 Diabetes patients successfully treated with their own stem cells

According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, a group of patients with Type 1 diabetes, were experimentally treated in Brazil with their own stem cells. Thirteen out of the fifteen young people who received transplants using their own stem cells were able to go without insulin for extended periods, ranging from six months to three years. The patients involved were between the ages of 14 to 31 and newly diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. One of the patients tested, a 30 year old male, has not taken insulin since the transplant which was 3 years ago. Much more extensive testing and development of this treatment method is needed. Yet with as many as 3 million struck with this disease in the United States alone, this medical first, using ethical sources of stem cells, is a huge step towards a cure.

For more information read these articles in the Houston Chronicle and the Los Angeles Times.

Tags: stem cell research, type 1 diabetes

LifeBeat for April 7, 2007

Paul Etterling, author of Genuine Faith and the Test of Love, provides advice for parents who receive an adverse prenatal diagnosis and how the prolife movement can reach out to people who are facing an adverse prenatal diagnosis.

Tags: paul etterling, prenatal diagnosis

Life Beat for March 31, 2007

Paul Etterling, author of Genuine Faith and the Test of Love, discusses the short life of his son David who had anencephaly, a neural tube defect with a 100% fatality rate. Paul and his wife were able to celebrate the life of their son even though he lived for only a short time.

Tags: paul etterling, anencephaly

LifeBeat for March 24, 2007

Dr. Richard Land, President of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, talks about when life human life begins. A new, unique human life begins at conception. He also discusses how every human being has a right to life.

Tags: richard land, when does life begin

LifeBeat for March 17, 2007

Dr. Richard Land, President of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, talks about embryonic stem cell research. He also discusses how prolifers can reach out to women who have had abortions.

Tags: richard land, stem cell research

Governor Granholm continues to confuse on stem cell research

On April 11, Governor Jennifer Granholm, along with the governors from 9 other states, signed a letter which was sent to the minority and majority leaders in the U.S. Senate urging them and all the members of the U.S. Senate to pass a bill which would increase the federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.

The letter contained a number of faulty statements which again show that Governor Granholm continues to garble information on this important issue.

The letter claims, "Embryonic stem cell research holds the potential to cure some of the oldest and deadliest diseases - from Parkinson's to Alzheimer's to multiple sclerosis. However, these restrictions have delayed that research for far too long." The letter also states, "For over five years, these families have been forced to wait as the Bush policy has obstructed this vital research."

Besides falsely claiming embryonic stem cell research could cure Alzheimer's (leading embryonic stem cell researcher Ronald McKay called statements like this "a fairy tale"), the letter also acts like the federal government restricts or obstructs embryonic stem cell research. The federal government does nothing to restrict or obstruct embryonic stem cell research. Private companies are allowed to do whatever they would like with embryonic stem cells. The federal government even spent $122 million on human embryonic stem cell research from 2003-2006 and plans on spending an additional $74 million on embryonic stem cell research in the next two years.

Instead of leading with honesty and integrity, Governor Granholm continues to garble the truth when it comes to stem cell research. She has unfortunately chosen to spend her time hyping research which is nowhere near being tested in human beings much less curing a wide variety of diseases as if it were the Holy Grail of medicine. In the meantime, she ignores the medical breakthroughs continually occurring using life-affirming forms of stem cell research which don't necessitate the destruction of human embryos.

For more about Governor Granholm's garbling of information on life issues, please visit Granholm Garble.

Tags: governor granholm, stem cell research

Successfully treating diabetes with adult stem cells

As the U.S. Senate debates whether to expand the federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, research with adult stem cells continues to treat a variety of diseases without killing human embryos. The Journal of the American Medical Association has released information about a study conducted in Brazil on patients with juvenile diabetes. The study found that thirteen of the fifteen treated patients are currently living normal lives and aren't taking insulin injections after being treated with their own stem cells. In the study, patients were given transplants of their own adult stem cells after chemotherapy was used to stop the patient's immune system from attacking cells which produce insulin. The adult stem cells then rebuilt their immune systems so the immune systems won't try to kill the body's insulin producing cells. One patient hasn't needed to use insulin for nearly 3 years.

The abstract to the study is available online at the web site of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Life Facts - Heart patient dramatically improves after injections using his own stem cells

Joe Galsser, 74, after suffering from a massive heart attack was left in a weakened state. He had a pacemaker implanted and was told that he would have five years to live. Seventy-five percent of his heart had died and there was nothing more they could do. That is until he participated in a stem cell study at the University of California San Diego, where doctors extracted stem cells from his leg, cultivated them in a lab and injected them into his damaged heart. He had no problems or side affects and said,"I feel excellent and I can do whatever I want to." This procedure is so minimally invasive that patients did not require anesthesia. This could revolutionize health care because the patient can go home within 24 hours of the procedure. Therefore the costs would dramatically decrease from $200,000 for a heart transplant to $20,000 - $25,000 (even as low as $8,000) for a stem cell transplant.

For more information visit these websites:
ABC News
WebMD

Tags: stem cell, heart treatment

Some advances in adult stem cell research this week

German researchers used adult stem cells from the hip bones of liver cancer patients to help grow their livers to a point where they were large enough so doctors could remove the cancerous parts.

Researchers have extracted adult stem cells from the legs of patients suffering from heart failure and then injected them into the patient's heart. The researchers saw improvement in the health of patients who received the adult stem cell treatment while the health of patients who received traditional treatment worsened.

For more advances in adult stem cell research, be sure to visit StemCellResearchCures.com

The Deceptive Definitions of Human Cloning

Wesley Smith recently had an article published in the Weekly Standard where he examines federal legislation recently introduced in Washington. Wesley notes that while S. 812 is entitled the "Human Cloning Ban and Stem Cell Protection Act of 2007," the legislation actually makes human cloning legal by providing a false and misleading definition of human cloning. Instead of defining human cloning as the actual scientific process of cloning, the falsely named "Human Cloning Ban and Stem Cell Protection Act of 2007" defines human cloning as the "implanting or attempting to implant the product of nuclear transplantation" (also known as a cloned human embryo) into a uterus.

At the state level in Michigan, we are faced with similar legislation. In the Michigan Senate, Gretchen Whitmer has introduced a bill, S.B. 52, which attempts to change the definition of "human cloning" in Michigan's current ban on human cloning as well as allow the destruction of human embryos for research purposes.

Michigan's current law defines human cloning by saying, "‘Human cloning' means the use of human somatic cell nuclear transfer technology to produce a human embryo."

Somatic cell nuclear transfer of SCNT is the scientific term for cloning. This is the technique scientists used to create Dolly the sheep and the various other animals which have been cloned.

Now, here's how Whitmer's legislation, if passed, would change this definition:

"‘Human cloning' means creating or attempting to create a human being by using the somatic cell nuclear transfer procedure for the purpose of, or to implant, the resulting product to initiate a pregnancy that could result in the birth of a human being."

That language doesn't actually outlaw human cloning. It just outlaws attempts to place a cloned human embryo into a womb if that pregnancy could result in birth by deceptively changing the definition of "human cloning" from a factual, scientific definition to one used for political posturing. Once a cloned human embryo has been created, the cloning has already occurred. Placing a cloned embryo into the womb isn't cloning.

The language of this legislation also seems to leave open the possibility of implanting cloned human embryos into wombs (real or artificial ) as long as the purpose of the pregnancy isn't birth but rather growing the cloned child to a point where the child could be aborted and fetal stem cells could be removed. This is a process also known as fetal farming.

Those who favor the creation and destruction of cloned human embryos for their stem cells are typically very careful to avoid saying they are in favor of scientists being allowed to try to create cloned human embryos because they know the public is, for the most part, not comfortable with human cloning and also not comfortable with the idea of creating human embryos solely to destroy them.

The prolife people in Michigan need to pull the curtain back and expose the crooked plans of human cloning proponents to their friends and family.

Tags: michigan, cloning, stem cell

LifeFacts: Woman saved from acute leukemia using ethical umbilical cord blood stem cells

A 27 year old woman from Israel contracted acute secondary leukemia that endangered her life. She received umbilical cord blood stem cells from two mothers who had just given birth, which saved her life. The beauty of using cord blood is that it does not necessarily have to be an exact match, unlike bone marrow transplants. Only 25% of patients needing a bone marrow transplant actually match up with someone in their family, otherwise a search for a suitable match is located and asked to donate. This is a cumbersome and time consuming process.

Another major advantage to using umbilical cord blood stem cells is that the graft "took" in two weeks, rather than one month for bone marrow transplants. By cutting hospital stays in half, the potential cost savings for health care will be enormous. Every new mother should consider donating her cord blood to either private or public banks when she delivers her child. By building up cord blood donations in the network, matches can be readily available and by using two doses the life saving benefits are quicker. Last but not least, investing in cord blood banks will save health care untold amounts of money.

For more information, you can read this article.

Correcting the Detroit Free Press's Stem Cell Mistakes

On March 18, 2007, the Detroit Free Press published an editorial on stem cell research which contained a number of claims which weren't true. The editorial claims that the state of Michigan has a "ban on embryonic stem cell research." Michigan doesn't have a ban on embryonic stem cell research. Research with human embryonic stem cell has been occurring at the University of Michigan for a 3 years with the support of federal tax dollars.

The law the Free Press was likely referring to is Michigan's law which prohibits the use of living human embryos, human fetuses, and human neonates in research which isn't therapeutic for them. This law prohibits researchers from killing human embryos for their stem cells but doesn't prohibit researchers from importing embryonic stem cells from other state and experimenting on them in Michigan.

Or the Free Press might have been referring to Michigan's ban on human cloning. Of course, a ban on human cloning is much different than a ban on embryonic stem cell research especially since attempts at human cloning for research have yet to even get embryonic stem cells from a cloned human embryo. If the Free Press editorial board is opposed to Michigan's ban on human cloning then they should provide arguments for why the ban on human cloning should be removed instead of arguing against a ban which doesn't exist.

One might wonder if the Free Press staff is just not very familiar with Michigan's laws on these complex issues except this editorial is one editorial in a long line of editorials and news stories in which the Free Press has inaccurately described Michigan laws relating to bio-ethical issues. Numerous times, Right to Life of Michigan staff have contacted the Free Press and Free Press reporters to correct these errors. Unfortunately, the Free Press has continued to persist in providing its readers with information which is intentionally misleading.

Tags: detroit free press, stem cell, michigan law

LifeFacts: Some cancers happen when stem cells go haywire - U of M researchers make significant find

Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center are the first to identify the stem cells that fuel the growth in pancreatic tumors. This is huge because pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadly of cancers with the worst survival rate. By identifying these particular stem cells, drugs can be developed to effectively aim and kill these tumor forming cells. Currently cancer treatments fail because they are designed to shrink the tumor by killing as many cells as possible, but may miss the cancer stem cells responsible. This small sub population of cancer cells can not only copy themselves, but can live longer than ordinary cells. To date, when embryonic stem cells have been transplanted in laboratory animal tests, they also go haywire and cause tumors.

For more information about this research, visit this site.