Stem Cell Opponents To Air Celebrity Ad
In an effort to shoot down a controversial measure that would legalize stem cell research in Missouri — and rebut an advertisement featuring Michael J. Fox that supports the law — opponents will respond with their own celebrity-filled ad that will air during Game 4 of the World Series Wednesday night.
The ad, sponsored by Missourians Against Human Cloning, is likely to draw attention after Fox's ad triggered a backlash — most notably from conservative radio commentator Rush Limbaugh, who has claimed Fox was "either off his medication or acting."
An added twist to the opponents' response is that St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jeff Suppan appears in the ad and will be the starter Wednesday against the Detroit Tigers.
Suppan, a devout Catholic, says in the ad: "Amendment 2 claims it bans human cloning, but in the 2,000 words you don't read, it makes cloning a constitutional right. Don't be deceived."
The proposed amendment to the state constitution would protect embryonic stem cell research in Missouri. A referendum on Amendment 2 will be decided during congressional elections on Nov. 7. Referendums are often included in general elections as a practical matter.
Joining Suppan are celebrities such as NFL quarterback Kurt Warner, actors Jim Caviezel and Patricia Heaton, and, baseball player Mike Sweeney. Caviezel played the role of Jesus in the film, "The Passion of the Christ."
The minute-long advertisement was completed and made available on the Internet on Tuesday afternoon. It will air across Missouri in the weeks leading up to the Nov. 7 election, reports the St. Louis News-Dispatch.
Missourians Against Human Cloning spokeswoman Cathy Ruse said the ad was already in the works, "but we sped up production after the Michael J. Fox ad came out.
"That ad claims opponents want to criminalize research and prevent the expansion of stem cell research. Those claims are just false and misleading," Ruse said. "Our gripe with Amendment 2 is it creates a right to do human cloning and it creates the right to human egg trafficking for cloning research."
Each of the celebrities warns against the measure, with Warner saying, "Beware of loopholes" and Heaton adding that the law will encourage women to sell their eggs to fertility clinics. "Low income women will be seduced by big checks," Heaton says.
Connie Farrow, a spokeswoman for Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures, a supporter of the amendment, called the opponents' ad "a pathetic attempt to distort the facts and mislead voters."
"To believe the claims made in their ad you'd have to believe that over 100 nonprofit patient and medical organizations, including the Missouri State Medical Association, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the Muscular Dystrophy Association, just to name a few, are conspiring to mislead voters," Farrow said. "And that defies commonsense."
Fox, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, displays the tics and twitches typically associated with the disease throughout the advertisement, which backs Missouri Democrat Claire McCaskill, who is running for Senate and supports Amendment 2.
Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 1991 and revealed his condition publicly in 1998. In 2000, he quit full-time acting because of his symptoms and founded the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, which has raised millions of dollars.
Parkinson's disease is a chronic, progressive disorder of the central nervous system that leaves patients increasingly unable to control their movements.
McCaskill is trying to unseat Republican incumbent James Talent, who opposes Amendment 2.
© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The ad, sponsored by Missourians Against Human Cloning, is likely to draw attention after Fox's ad triggered a backlash — most notably from conservative radio commentator Rush Limbaugh, who has claimed Fox was "either off his medication or acting."
An added twist to the opponents' response is that St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jeff Suppan appears in the ad and will be the starter Wednesday against the Detroit Tigers.
Suppan, a devout Catholic, says in the ad: "Amendment 2 claims it bans human cloning, but in the 2,000 words you don't read, it makes cloning a constitutional right. Don't be deceived."
The proposed amendment to the state constitution would protect embryonic stem cell research in Missouri. A referendum on Amendment 2 will be decided during congressional elections on Nov. 7. Referendums are often included in general elections as a practical matter.
Joining Suppan are celebrities such as NFL quarterback Kurt Warner, actors Jim Caviezel and Patricia Heaton, and, baseball player Mike Sweeney. Caviezel played the role of Jesus in the film, "The Passion of the Christ."
The minute-long advertisement was completed and made available on the Internet on Tuesday afternoon. It will air across Missouri in the weeks leading up to the Nov. 7 election, reports the St. Louis News-Dispatch.
Missourians Against Human Cloning spokeswoman Cathy Ruse said the ad was already in the works, "but we sped up production after the Michael J. Fox ad came out.
"That ad claims opponents want to criminalize research and prevent the expansion of stem cell research. Those claims are just false and misleading," Ruse said. "Our gripe with Amendment 2 is it creates a right to do human cloning and it creates the right to human egg trafficking for cloning research."
Each of the celebrities warns against the measure, with Warner saying, "Beware of loopholes" and Heaton adding that the law will encourage women to sell their eggs to fertility clinics. "Low income women will be seduced by big checks," Heaton says.
Connie Farrow, a spokeswoman for Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures, a supporter of the amendment, called the opponents' ad "a pathetic attempt to distort the facts and mislead voters."
"To believe the claims made in their ad you'd have to believe that over 100 nonprofit patient and medical organizations, including the Missouri State Medical Association, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the Muscular Dystrophy Association, just to name a few, are conspiring to mislead voters," Farrow said. "And that defies commonsense."
Fox, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, displays the tics and twitches typically associated with the disease throughout the advertisement, which backs Missouri Democrat Claire McCaskill, who is running for Senate and supports Amendment 2.
Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 1991 and revealed his condition publicly in 1998. In 2000, he quit full-time acting because of his symptoms and founded the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, which has raised millions of dollars.
Parkinson's disease is a chronic, progressive disorder of the central nervous system that leaves patients increasingly unable to control their movements.
McCaskill is trying to unseat Republican incumbent James Talent, who opposes Amendment 2.
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If you take a human egg and replace its nucleus with a human cell containing the full compliment of human genetic material - you create a human being. I ask you - if it's not human, what is it? What other criteria is there to determine what is human and what is some other species besides genetic makeup?
I agree with NCDaveNC. God loves you unconditionally. So does Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.
As to your questions before that, my definition of "human" doesn't include single cells, no. Or even multiple clumps of cells. Obviously a true definition of "human" would first require other specifications - moral? physical? You're making a link between thinking, judging, rational creature human and living organism human. Terry Schiavo, at the end of her life, was human - physically. Mentally, she was not.
"And if it's a newborn or a five-year-old - which do you choose?"
Gee, you keep asking me which life to spare. Makes me think I'm God or something. I don't know which I'd choose. I still wouldn't choose a blasocyst over a newborn though, because one's human, the other is not.
The good news is that adult stem cells hold the greatest promise for spinal cord injury victims. A doctor in Portugal (where embryonic stem cell research is illegal) has used olfactory tissue from patients to improve their conditions. You can read a good summary of Dr. Lima's clinical trials here http://www.healingtherapies.info/OlfactoryTissue2.htm. This therapy is also supposed to be done in Michigan - where embryonic stem cell research is also illegal.
Here's the bad news. Concentration on the desire to use embryos, whether manufactured or leftovers, is stifling this more promising research, which has the potential of curing people with stem cells from their own bodies. What is more disturbing is that embryonic stem cell research on the animal testing level has been a disaster, often resulting in tumors. This research should be proven successful on animals before anyone even thinks of moving on to humans.
My "wheelchair bound" son is 25. I've watched him deal with this disability for the past 7 years and I find it very difficult to watch. He was a great athlete before his spinal cord injury and had a wonderful career planned as a physical therapist helping people. Obviously this dream went out the window. I get to tend to his bedsores and dress him everyday before my 8 hour shift starts. I haven't asked him his opinion on this subject but I know for a fact he would rather be on the baseball or football field rather than sitting in his wheelchair. I think everyone should try sitting in a wheelchair for a week and see how difficult it is trying to get around; especially on public transportation. I know it would drive me insane from the frustration in no time.
What is true? What is not true? Who knows?
But I feel that when you start messing with the unknown, it can sometimes come back to bite you in the ***.
pakaal, Please look in your Bible at Jeremiah 1:5, "Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations."
If anyone has doubts about the begining of life, I suggest that you forget about asking what the Democrats, Republicans, Christians, Muslims, Atheists or anyone else says or thinks. Just very simply and sincerely pray, read your Bible and ask God to show you. You won't need anyones opinion if you go to the Source. God loves you and me regardless of what we think about various issues. For one, I am glad that public and personal opinions don't affect what God thinks about me. Arguing political and religious opinions is a waste of time because the final authority is certainly NOT what I or anyone else "thinks". Only God's Word matters in the end. God loves you pakaal, unconditionally.
NCDaveNC
And if it's a newborn or a five-year-old - which do you choose?
The growth difference between a newborn and a five-year-old is greater than the difference between a blastocyst and a newborn. Is the newborn less human?
I may be wrong but I'm going to say that the vast majority of people, myself included, will choose the 5 year old over the embryo because one is an actual living, breathing human, while the other is only the possibility or potential to become such.
Thank you cintyzimmer, for finally clearing this up. I didn't know this was a religious debate. While I respect the beliefs of all religions, I have to disagree with your opinion that a cell can be defined as a human.