California’s Proposition 71 – A $3,000,000,000 Bait and Switch
California’s Proposition 71 – A $3,000,000,000 Bait and Switch
On November 2, 2004 California voters passed Proposition 71, which established a constitutional right to conduct embryonic stem cell research. It also authorized the state to borrow $3 billion – on behalf of the taxpayers – with a projected total cost of $6 billion, including interest, to fund the research. In addition, it established the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to regulate stem cell research and provide funding through grants and loans for such research and research facilities.
Fifty-nine percent of the electorate was convinced that embryonic stem cell research was on the cutting edge of science and that public funding for the harvesting of preborn babies’ stem cells would be the key to finding successful treatments for myriad debilitating physical conditions.
Supporters of the CIRM held out hopes of imminent medical breakthroughs that were claimed to only be delayed by President Bush’s policy disallowing federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. California voters were convinced and agreed to foot the bill.
Because the lives of thousands of preborn human embryos were now at stake, California Family Council created the California Family Bioethics Council LLC, which filed a lawsuit against Proposition 71. The lawsuit pointed out blatant conflicts of interest, as members of the CIRM board were charged with overseeing the $3 billion in bond money, yet themselves benefitted from the distribution of that money. Although the lawsuit did not ultimately succeed, it delayed the process and saved innocent lives.
Five years later, and after taxpayers’ investment of billions of dollars in embryonic stem cell research (ESCR), there have been no cures and no successful therapies. So now ESCR supporters are embracing research they once cavalierly rejected.
ESCR has failed to deliver, and backers of Prop. 71 are admitting failure. The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the state agency created to “restore science to its rightful place,” is diverting funds from ESCR to research that has produced actual therapies and treatments.
Treatments with adult stem cells have not only helped real people with real results, they also protect the sanctity of life. This classic bait-and-switch is an attempt to dismiss the failure of ESCR and take credit for discoveries and advances achieved through adult stem cell research, not at all what the proponents of Proposition 71 had promised.
Dr. Bernadine Healy, director of the National Institutes of Health under President George W. Bush, recently wrote in her U.S. News & World Report column that embryonic stem cells, once thought to hold the cure for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and diabetes, are obsolete. Even worse, they can be dangerous. They are difficult to control and to coax into the specific type of tissue desired. Unlike adult stem cells taken from a patient’s own body, embryonic stem cells require the heavy use of immunosuppressive drugs. Their use can lead to a form of tumor called a teratoma.
In 2008, as embryonic stem cell cures looked increasingly unlikely, a new president, bringing a track record of discoveries from the lab to the clinic, was hired for the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. “If we went 10 years and had no clinical treatments, it would be a failure,” said the new president, Alan Trounson, a stem cell pioneer from Australia. “We need to demonstrate that we are starting a whole new medical revolution.”
CIRM is attempting to do that now by funding adult stem cell research. Nearly $230 million was handed out this past October to 14 research teams. Notably, only four of those projects involve embryonic stem cells.
Among the recipients, the Los Angeles Times reports, is a group from UCLA and Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles that hopes to cure patients with sickle cell disease by genetically modifying their own blood-forming stem cells to produce healthy red blood cells. Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center will use their grant to research injecting heart-attack patients with concentrated amounts of their own cardiac stem cells that naturally repair heart tissue.
California Family Council believes that human life is sacred, stemming from our Creator. We are committed to protecting the preborn from harm and will continue to work diligently to protect the most innocent and vulnerable among us. It is our desire to keep you informed on the latest news and research, so please visit our website regularly. We encourage you to forward our publications to your family and friends.
