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