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.