Editorial Endorses Michigan Embryonic Stem Cell Research Initiative

Main Category: Stem Cell Research
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 06 Oct 2008 - 9:00 PST

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Michigan voters should vote yes on Proposition 2 on the November ballot because it would overturn "one of the most backward laws on human embryonic stem cell research in the nation" a Detroit News editorial says. Proposition 2 would amend the state constitution to lift the ban on embryonic stem cell research, according to the News. The measure would allow the research under certain conditions while maintaining a ban on human cloning and the sale of human embryos for research, the editorial says.

The News notes that the embryonic stem cell research ban damages the ability of the University of Michigan, one of the "leading stem cell research centers," to conduct cutting-edge embryonic stem cell research and recruit leading researchers to the center. The editorial also says that although opponents warn that language in the proposition could limit future regulation of embryonic stem cell research, a "process is in place to revise the constitution," if new regulations are necessary. Sean Morrison, head of the University of Michigan's Center for Stem Cell Biology comments that under current law, "it is legal in Michigan's fertility clinics to discard human embryos, but not to use them for medical research to try and help patients," the editorial says (Detroit News, 10/2).

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