Another year wait for early embryonic stem cell clinical trial

The first clinical trial designed to test the safety of the placing cells created from embryonic stem cells in human patients will have to wait approximately another year. Forbes is reporting that Geron hopes to restart it’s delayed clinical trial sometime in the 3rd quarter of 2010. The first ever approved clinical trial using embryonic stem cells was delayed in August after studies using animal studies showed the animals developed cysts at their injury sites after being injected with the cells developed from embryonic stem cells.

FULL STORY

New Critical Reading of Ryan Dinkgrave's editorial in the State News

At StemCellResearchCures.com we've published a new critical reading. This critical reading examines Ryan Dinkgrave's recent column in the State News entitled, "Stem cell opponents defying voters' will."

Unfortunately, Dinkgrave gets a number of basic stem cell facts wrong including President Bush's funding policy on embryonic stem cell research.

Read the PDF here.

Tonight: Urgent Health Care Web Cast

A nationwide web cast is planned to provide an update on health care reform. Hear the updates and learn what you can do!

Your attendance is crucial:

http://www.StopTheAbortionMandate.com/webcast

Seventy plus prolife and pro-family organizations that make up the Stop the Abortion Mandate Coalition invite you to attend this urgent educational event.

Here are the details:

WHAT: Stop the Abortion Mandate Urgent Web Cast

DATE: TONIGHT, Monday, November 2

TIME: 9 PM Eastern, 8 PM Central, 7 PM Mountain, 6 PM Pacific

Register now at:

http://www.StopTheAbortionMandate.com/webcast

During the live webcast, you'll hear the latest breaking news from many nationally respected leaders.

Invited presenters include:

* DOUGLAS JOHNSON, National Right to Life Committee

* REP. CHRIS SMITH, U.S. House of Representatives

* MARJORIE DANNENFELSER, Susan B. Anthony List

* CHARMAINE YOEST, Americans United for Life

* KELLYANNE CONWAY, The Polling Company

* KRISTEN DAY, Democrats for Life

* DR. DAVID STEVENS, Christian Medical & Dental Associations


During the event, you will:

* Hear the LATEST UPDATES and news straight from our nation's capital

* Learn exactly how abortion IS mandated in the proposed health care reform bills

* Discover what YOU can do about it!


Join Right to Life of Michigan and register for the important webcast now:

http://www.StopTheAbortionMandate.com/webcast

California’s embryonic stem cell funding agency gives majority of grants to non-embryonic stem cell work

In another sign that embryonic stem cell research is unlikely to ever result in successful treatments for human patients and is years behind adult stem cell research, the New York Times reports that only 4 of the 14 projects recently approved for $230 million in funding from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) plan on using embryonic stem cells.

CIRM was created after a ballot proposal was approved by California voters to spend $3 billion dollars over 10 years on embryonic stem cell research. The ballot proposal was sold as necessary to the citizens of California because the federal government was allegedly not spending enough money on embryonic stem cell research.

The $230 million in grants awarded Wednesday to California universities and companies represent a big step toward moving stem cells from basic research toward application in treating diseases like cancer and AIDS. Grant recipients are supposed to have a therapy ready for initial human testing in four years.

But only 4 of the 14 projects involve embryonic stem cells. The others will use so-called adult stem cells or conventional drugs intended to kill cancer stem cells, which are thought to give rise to tumors.

The grants thus represent a departure from the program’s original mission. California voters approved the 10-year, $3 billion effort in 2004 largely to get around restrictions on embryonic stem cell research imposed by the administration of President George W. Bush.

Such research is ethically controversial because creation of embryonic stem cells involves the destruction of human embryos.

FULL STORY

Stupak will attempt to block health care reform if abortion funding not removed

On Friday, the Hill ran a story about how Representative Bart Stupak (D-MI) and approximately 40 Democrats will attempt to prevent health care reform legislation from coming to the House floor unless they are given a vote on an amendment to explicitly exclude abortion funding from health care reform.

"There?s about 40 like-minded Democrats like myself -- we?ll try to take down the rule," Stupak said. ?If all 40 of us vote in a bloc against the rule -- because we think the Republicans will join us -- we can defeat the rule. The magic number is 218. If we can have 218 votes against the rule, we win.?

With 177 Republicans in the House, Stupak would need at least 41 Democrats to cross the aisle and vote against the rule. Stupak's amendment was originally defeated by the House Energy and Commerce Committee during mark-up.

FULL STORY

Bart Stupak (D-MI) and prolife Democrats continue to oppose abortion in health care reform

A recent Associated Press article highlights how Michigan prolife Democrat Bart Stupak continues to work to remove abortion funding from the health care reform bills. Stupak and other prolife Democrats will attempt to block the bill unless they are allowed to a vote on an amendment to remove abortion funding for health care reform.

Stupak says language specifying that someone obtaining an abortion must use her own money, not federal money from the subsidies, doesn't go far enough because it's impossible to clearly segregate funds in that way.

"Once you get the affordability credits (subsidies) in there, that's public funding of abortion. We're not going there," Stupak said. "How do you get past the affordability credits is really the issue. And we can't."

....

Unless an eleventh-hour agreement is reached, Stupak intends to carry through on a threat he's been holding over House leaders for months: to block action on the larger health overhaul bill unless he's allowed to offer a stand-alone amendment during floor debate to include the Hyde amendment restrictions in the health overhaul bill.

Such an amendment would be almost certain to prevail, since it likely would attract the votes of most Republicans as well as some Democrats. So Democratic leaders won't let Stupak offer it.

Instead, it appears they may have to take the risk of letting Stupak try to block action on the underlying bill, which he intends to do by assembling "no" votes on a procedural measure that needs to pass before debate can begin.

FULL STORY

Wayne State Researcher Helping Paralyzed Patients with Adult Stem Cells

WWJ, a news radio station in Detroit, is reporting on how a recent study by Wayne State University School of Medicine researcher Jean Peduzzi-Nelson has shown that taking adult stem cells from the nasal tissue of paralyzed patients and then injecting it into their spines can help them regain some mobility.

The injuries in the study patients were 18 months to 15 years old. The patients, ages 19 to 37, had no use of their legs before the treatment. One paraplegic treated almost three years after the injury now ambulates with two crutches and knee braces. Ten other patients ambulate with physical assistance and walkers (with and without braces). One 31-year-old male tetriplegic patient uses a walker without the help of knee braces or physical assistance. When the stem cell transplant and scar removal process was combined with an advanced form of rehabilitative training that employs brain-initiated weight-bearing movement, 13 patients improved in the standard measures used to assess functional independence and walking capabilities.

“We concluded that olfactory mucosal autograft is feasible, relatively safe and possibly beneficial in people with chronic spinal cord injury when combined with post-operative rehabilitation,” Peduzzi-Nelson said. “There are clear indications of efficacy based on neurological, functional and electrophysiological testing that justify moving forward to a larger, controlled clinical trial. In patients who are willing to commit to lots of intense rehabilitation, this combination treatment holds promise to improve their condition.”

FULL STORY

Prolife Advertisement Details Abortion Funding in Health Care Reform

Americans United for Life has released a new ad chronicling how current health care reform measures include funding for abortion despite promises from President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that health care reform wouldn’t include funding for abortion.

Health Care Reform Update

Finance Committee passes proposal 14-9

Yesterday, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee approved the America's Healthy Future Act which was crafted by Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mt.). The bill contains an array of far-reaching provisions which endanger the lives of senior citizens and unborn children. On September 30, 2009, the Finance Committee defeated two prolife amendments to the bill, offered by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).

U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow from Michigan sits on this committee and voted to approve the America's Healthy Future Act. Please let Senator Stabenow know that you are disappointed that abortion coverage was not explicitly excluded from the bill.

Contact Information:
Senator Debbie Stabenow (D)
133 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-4822
Fax: (202) 228-0325

Web Site:
www.stabenow.senate.gov/

Now that the Finance Committee approved the Baucus bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nv.) will need to combine the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) and Finance bills into a single bill. The full Senate may take up a bill later this month.

Right to Life of Michigan will continue to keep you posted on health care reform. At any time, visit Right to Life of Michigan at www.rtl.org for information on health care reform.

NRLC: White House Press Secretary's Remarks Show White House Still Engaged in Smuggling Operation for Government Funding of Abortion

National Right to Life has a press release noting how remarks from White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs show the Obama administration is still attempting to mislead the public on whether health care reform legislation includes government funding of abortion.

Douglas Johnson, legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the national federation of right-to-life affiliates, said: "Gibbs' statement is one more proof, if any more were needed, that the White House is actively engaged in a political smuggling operation -- an attempt to achieve funding of elective abortion by the federal government, cloaked in smokescreens of contrived language and outright deception. There is no current federal law that would prevent the new programs created by the pending health care bills from paying for abortion on demand -- and the White House knows this full well.

FULL STORY

Fall 09 Issue of RLM News Online

The Fall 2009 issue of the Right to Life of Michigan News is now online. You can read it online here.

This issue includes articles on health care reform, a Conference recap, information about Michigan 2008 abortion statistics and a state legislative update.

British and Greek doctors used stem cells and an artificial heart to save a Greek man

Sky News reports on a Greek man whose heart condition was treated using a Jarvic mechanical heart pump and 6 million of his own adult stem cells.

The Greek patient had been so dangerously ill that he had been kept in hospital for four months. He had suffered at least two heart attacks and his cardiac muscle was too weak to push enough blood around his body.

Drug treatment and other surgical devices had failed to improve his condition.

In a radical attempt to save his life, surgeons implanted a Jarvic mechanical device into his heart to divert blood away from the damaged pumping chamber.

In many patients that is enough for the heart to begin to heal - sometimes so well that the mechanical pump can be safely removed weeks or months later.

But in Ioannis' case the cardiac muscle had been badly damaged. So surgeons injected six million stem cells that they had earlier extracted from his bone marrow.

The stem cells kickstart a recovery by building new muscle and releasing chemicals that attract new blood vessels into the damaged areas.

FULL STORY

Health Care Alert, Focus on the U.S. Senate

Please Contact Senator Debbie Stabenow

Both houses of Congress are pushing towards votes on sweeping health care reform bills that currently contain far-reaching provisions which endanger the lives of senior citizens and unborn children. This week the U.S. Senate Finance Committee may vote on amendments which address these concerns.

On September 16, 2009, Senator Max Baucus (D-MT.), the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, released a draft health care bill called the "America's Healthy Future Act." The Finance Committee is scheduled to begin considering amendments to the bill, including prolife amendments, on Tuesday, September 29.

The rationing concern revolves around one provision that penalizes Medicare doctors who provide higher levels of medical treatment to senior citizens. Senator Jon Kyl, a prolife Arizona Republican, and Senator Pat Roberts, a prolife Kansas Republican, are behind amendments. In addition to the rationing concerns in the Baucus bill, federally funded abortion is included in the proposed legislation.

The bill contains provisions that would send massive federal subsidies directly to both private insurance plans and government-chartered cooperatives that pay for elective abortion.

To fix these problems, prolife senators Orrin Hatch of Utah and Mike Enzi of Wyoming have proposed a handful of amendments.

Learn more by visiting Right to Life of Michigan at www.rtl.org.

ACTION:
Contact Senator Debbie Stabenow, who is a member of the Senate Finance Committee and urge her to "support amendments to make sure rationing and abortion funding are explicitly excluded from the Baucus bill."

Please act today. Votes on amendments may take place tomorrow.

Contact Information:

Senator Debbie Stabenow (D)
133 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-4822
Fax: (202) 228-0325

Web Site:
www.stabenow.senate.gov/

Grand Rapids man saves life by donating his adult stem cells

On September 27, 2009, the Grand Rapids Press shared the story of how Grand Rapids resident Chris Diemer recently met Jorge Rodriguez, a man from Florida whose life was saved by Diemer’s adult stem cells.

Diemer, 31, who works for Gordon Food Service, regularly gives blood at Michigan Community Blood Center on Fuller Avenue NE. He didn't know a lot about bone-marrow transplants until a worker asked if he wanted to be tested to determine if he matched anyone needing a transplant.

"I said, 'Sure, I'll do it.' I didn't really think I'd be called."

A couple of months later, he got the call.

He was concerned about the procedure. He thought he would have to undergo surgery for bone marrow to be extracted. Instead, stem cells were taken by a machine that drew blood from one arm and returned it to the other in a six-hour process.

"I did it because I knew it was the right thing to do," he said.

On Dec. 19, 2007, Rodriguez had the transplant.

"I was relieved and excited," he said. "I would have passed away. The chemo was working, but the cancer would have returned. It would've returned stronger. I would have passed away."

FULL STORY

Abortion linked to premature births

A recent study published in the BJOB: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology found that women who have had abortions are more likely to experience premature birth with subsequent pregnancies.

The review of 37 case studies found that women who had undergone more than one abortion had a 72 per cent increased risk of having children with low birthweight and a 93 per cent increased risk of having a premature baby.

It also found that women who had an abortion in the first or second trimester had a 35 per cent increased risk of giving birth to a low-weight baby and a 36 per cent increased risk of having a premature baby.

FULL STORY

PDF of the study

“Abortion is always out of fashion!”

A brewery in Grand Rapids recently informed charity organizers that their brewery wouldn’t participate in a fashion show fundraiser for America’s #1 abortion provider.

After angry calls and letters started pouring in, Founders President Mike Stevens told organizers this week they had to switch to another local, and less controversial, charity. Kids Food Basket, which provides meals for local students, was selected.

"Our goal is simple, make the best beer we can and focus on that and that only," Stevens said in a written statement.

Rockford resident Amy Oatley said she was among those who objected to Planned Parenthood's involvement in the event. She said she sent e-mails to the show's organizers protesting their choice because it goes against her anti-abortion beliefs.

"When I heard you were going to tie this in with raising funds for Planned Parenthood, the country's leading abortion provider, I said no thanks!" Oatley told the group. "Abortion is always out of fashion!"

FULL STORY

Denial, Evasion and Distortion

No, this isn't about an upcoming blockbuster movie ... it's about health care reform.

Mixed messages have made it difficult for many to discern what's fact or fiction in regards to health care reform.

Listen to an update on national health care reform efforts from Right to Life of Michigan President Barbara Listing.

The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote soon, perhaps in late September, on "health care reform" legislation (H.R. 3200) that contains far-reaching pro-abortion provisions, including a new nationwide insurance plan run entirely by the federal government that would cover all elective abortions.

The Democratic leaders who hold majority control in the U.S. Senate also have several versions of health-care restructuring bills that will be debated in the near future.

The health care bill recently approved by three committees in the House of Representatives would operate a nationwide "public option" insurance plan that would be authorized to cover abortion on demand. The bill would also provide federal subsidies to private insurance plans that cover elective abortions.

The pro-abortion Capps-Waxman Amendment that was added in the House Energy and Commerce Committee explicitly ratified these pro-abortion effects. This pro-abortion amendment was opposed by all of the prolife members of the committee. The committee rejected the prolife Stupak-Pitts Amendment (Prolife Rep. Bart Stupak represents Michigan's 1st Congressional District), which would have removed elective abortion from the scope of government-operated and government-subsidized insurance plans. We must keep the federal government from running an abortion insurance plan and oppose government subsidies for private plans that cover elective abortions.

For months, Administrative and Congressional proponents of the present health care reform bills have misrepresented the actual language in the bills that would result in government funding of elective abortions. Articles highlighting the misinformation regarding abortion and health care continue to pile up. FactCheck.org, New York Times, Associated Press and TIME Magazine highlight how abortion is included in current health care proposals.

How do we know abortion will be included in proposed health care reform legislation even if the word "abortion" doesn't appear in the legislation? The history of Medicaid shows that the federal government will fund abortion unless it is explicitly excluded.

Action Needed

Two areas of health care reform which need to be addressed include abortion coverage and rationing of health care. Contact your two U.S. Senators and your U.S. House Representative with the following two messages:

* abortion must be explicitly excluded from any health care/insurance reform legislation; and

* any health care restructuring providing coverage for the uninsured must have a sustainable, reliable means of full funding to prevent rationing.


Helpful Links:

Congressional Contact Information

Suggestions for letters to the editor and on-line posts

Sign On-Line Petition

Print Paper Petition to Circulate

Proposed U.S. House National Health Care Legislation -- 1,018 pages

Print and distribute this Action Alert to let others know about national health care reform plans

Right to Life of Michigan President Barbara Listing's update on national health care reform

Chart showing how health care bills equal government funded abortion

Abortion funding myth lingers in the national health care debate

While addressing the joint session of Congress on Wednesday, September 9, President Barack Obama said, "One more misunderstanding I want to clear up -- under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions."

The reality is that the Obama-backed House bill would explicitly authorize the federal government insurance plan to pay for elective abortions and would explicitly authorize subsidies for private abortion insurance -- and all with federal dollars, which are the only kind of dollars that the federal government can spend. Numerous attempts with amendments were made during House Committee meetings to explicitly exclude abortion from national health care reform, but the attempts were defeated. A simple question for our President is: "If federal dollars will not be used to fund abortions, than why can't abortion be explicitly excluded from the plan?"

Right to Life of Michigan will be monitoring national health care reform and will keep you abreast of key happenings. But for now, keep the pressure on with our two U.S.Senators and your U.S. House Representative to "explicitly exclude" abortion from any health care reform.

Go on record TODAY that you oppose abortion in health care reform. The message is:
Abortion and abortion funding must be "explicitly excluded" from any health care/insurance reform legislation.

Action Item:

Call, fax and e-mail Senator Carl Levin, Senator Debbie Stabenow and your U.S. House Representative and let them know abortion and abortion funding must be "explicitly excluded " from any health care/insurance reform legislation.

Congressional Contact Information
Oppose Making Abortion Part of Health Care Reform

Health Care Reform Should Serve Women, Not Hurt Them

Post-Abortion Voices Join Health Care Debate

"Abortion didn’t solve our problems; it only created new ones." Thus say the women and men who resorted to abortion and ended up regretting it. Their voices are heard in the Silent No More Awareness Campaign, and in the video below.

Please spread this video far and wide, as our nation debates health care reform and as many Americans demand that such reform not include an expansion of abortion.

Please also help us spread the testimonies of all who have joined the Silent No More Awareness Campaign. Learn more at the links to the right of the video.

Link to video

British Doctors Use Adult Stem Cells to Treat Hip Ailments

Surgeons at Spire Hospital in Southhampton have been using a new technique to help treat patients with hip ailments. They mix adult stem cells from a patient's own bone marrow with ground up bone fragments from another patient and then put the mix into a spot where they had previously removed dead bone tissue. This is an alternative therapy to artificial hip replacement.

Carl Millard had the stem cell procedure last year. He can now walk normally, without any pain.

"I feel great," he said. "If this can prevent people having to have a hip replacement, I think it is wonderful."

FULL STORY

FactCheck.org notes that President Obama isn’t telling the truth about abortion and health care reform

During a recent telephone call with supporters, President Obama claimed that current health care reform plans wouldn’t allow the government funding of abortion and that prolife groups who were educating the public about this issue were “fabricating.”

The web site FactCheck.org has reviewed the health care legislation and concludes that President Obama is the one who is fabricating information, noting that “(d)espite what Obama said, the House bill would allow abortions to be covered by a federal plan and by federally subsidized private plans.”

Abortion foes quickly denounced Obama’s statement as untrue. The NRLC’s Johnson said "the bill backed by the White House (H.R. 3200) explicitly authorizes the government plan to cover all elective abortions." And our analysis shows that Johnson’s statement is correct. Though we of course take no position on whether the legislation should allow or not allow coverage for abortions, the House bill does just that.

FactCheck.org then concludes their report by saying,

“As for the House bill as it stands now, it’s a matter of fact that it would allow both a "public plan" and newly subsidized private plans to cover all abortions.”

FULL STORY

Human embryonic stem cell trial delayed

The only clinical trial approved by the FDA using cells created from embryonic stem cells has now been put on hold by the FDA. The delay occurred before any patients were enrolled in the study. No patients have yet to be successfully treated with embryonic stem cells.

The halt was ordered after Geron shared data from dose escalation studies in animals with the Food and Drug Administration, the company said. The therapy is meant to restore movement to paralyzed people by injecting nerve cells made from embryonic stem cells to the site of the injury.

In January, the F.D.A. lifted a delay on the clinical trial from May 2008. The action on Tuesday was probably based on safety concerns that emerged from the new higher-dose data the company had submitted, said Joseph Pantginis, an analyst with the Merriman Curhan Ford Group in New York.

FULL STORY

Abortion in Health Care Reform

National Right to Life Committee has recently posted a fact sheet which discusses how current health care reform bills in the House of Representatives and U.S. Senate would force taxpayers to pay for and subsidize abortions.

FULL STORY

House and Senate to Vote After Labor Day on Health Bills That Will Greatly Expand and Fund Abortion

The U.S. House and U.S. Senate are expected to vote after Labor Day on "health care reform" bills that, in their current forms, could produce the greatest expansion of abortion since Roe v. Wade.

Your help is needed today.

The bills are being pushed hard by President Barack Obama and by top Democratic congressional leaders. However, growing public concerns about the bills caused sufficient resistance among some factions of Democrats that the leadership was forced to abandon the original plan of having floor votes on the bills in July. The August recess provides an excellent opportunity for concerned citizens to contact their Washington lawmakers. Below are suggested action items, key messages and links to help you make a difference and save lives!

Action Items:

* Schedule an individual or small group meeting with your U.S. House Representative
* Attend a Town-Hall Meeting. Call the district office of your U.S. Senators and U.S. House Representative to find out when/if a meeting is scheduled
* Call your U.S. Senators and U.S. House Representative district offices to share your message to explicitly exclude abortion from any national health care plan
* FAX a message to the district offices of your U.S. Senators and U.S. House Representative
* Put an announcement in your church bulletin to encourage others to contact their U.S. House Representative and U.S. Senators
* Send out a message using FaceBook, Twitter, and other social networking with a link to www.rtl.org so others can be informed on abortion in proposed national health care legislation

Messages:

* No tax funding for abortion in any national health care program
* Abortion must be explicitly excluded from national health care
* Abortion is not health care

Some say abortion is not part of the national health care plan, however, it is important to note that many attempts were made in committee meetings to explicitly exclude abortion with amendments. Every amendment to explicitly exclude abortion from national health care was defeated in committee.

Key Links:

* Congressional Contact Information
* Suggestions for letters to the editor and on-line posts are available
* Sign On-Line Petition
* Print and distribute this Action Alert to let others know about national health care reform plans. Perfect for fairs and churches

Follow Right to Life of Michigan on FaceBook, MySpace or Twitter.

Abortions increase in Michigan

The Michigan Department of Community Health recently released Michigan’s 2008 abortion statistics. The statistics show that the number of abortions performed in Michigan rose 5.2% to a total of 25,970 induced abortions. While the information is disappointing because of the increase in the number of abortions performed in Michigan, the data is not surprising. Michigan has been hit hard economically which makes a decision for life more challenging for mothers experiencing an untimely pregnancy.

The increase in the number of abortions performed on residents of Wayne and Oakland county was dramatic , totaling more than the increase for the state as a whole. The number of abortions performed on black women also increased disproportionately. The percentage of abortions performed on black women was 45.4% (it was 41.9% in 2007) even though the American Community Survey estimates that only 14.1% of Michigan’s population is Black or African-American.

The death of one woman from abortion was recorded as an immediate complication.

A summary of the statistics along with links to other statistics is available online here.