|
|
 |
|
CNS Story:
|
STEMCELL-PATIENTS Jun-21-2006 (860 words) xxxn
Patients said to offer stem-cell solution 'we can all live with'
By Nancy Frazier O'Brien
Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- As the U.S. Senate prepared to consider competing proposals on the funding of stem-cell research, a representative of the U.S. bishops' pro-life office said the presence of four people on Capitol Hill showed that "there are solutions we can all live with."
Deirdre McQuade, director of planning and information in the bishops' Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, participated in a June 20 press conference organized by Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and featuring four patients who have been treated successfully for a variety of illnesses with adult stem cells or those from umbilical-cord blood.
The four were Jackie Rabon of Waverly, Ill., a paraplegic who received a successful treatment with adult stem cells; Ryan Schneider of Chicago, who received a cord-blood treatment for cerebral palsy; Abby Pell of the Washington area, who was treated with her own cord blood for brain damage she suffered at birth; and David Foege of Naples, Fla., who was successfully treated for heart failure with adult stem cells.
"We praise these patients and families for their courage, their persistence and their willingness to come to Washington to present how ethically sound stem-cell research is paving the road to treatments," McQuade said.
"No one should think that the stem-cell debate forces us to choose between ethics and science," she added. "We can support both. There is no need to sell our souls in the quest to heal our bodies."
At the press conference Brownback said the four told "absolutely phenomenal stories of successes" using adult stem cells or cord-blood stem cells. "We need to do more of this," he added.
The Kansas senator called for a full floor debate on bioethics issues when the Senate considers H.R. 810, the Stem-Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005, which he and the Catholic Church oppose.
"I want you to see where we're seeing successes without bioethical questions involved," he said at the press conference.
The House bill, approved on a 238-194 vote last year, would permit federal funding of stem-cell research involving the destruction of embryos, as long as the embryos were created for in vitro fertilization and later donated by the couples.
Brownback urged a Senate vote on S. 3504, the Fetus Farming Prohibition Act of 2006, co-sponsored by himself and Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa. The legislation would prohibit "the solicitation or acceptance of tissue from fetuses gestated for research purposes."
Another bill co-sponsored by Santorum, the Alternative Pluripotent Stem-Cell Therapies Enhancement Act, would increase federal funding of research into ways to derive pluripotent stem cells without destroying embryos.
A spokesman for Brownback said the Kansas senator had not taken a position on that legislation, which also is sponsored by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa.
At a June 15 briefing with scientists who are working on alternatives to embryonic stem-cell research, Santorum said the bill "is pro-scientific progress, pro-stem-cell research, and pro-cures for diseases, but does not compromise my commitment to protecting innocent embryonic life."
Richard Doerflinger, deputy director of the bishops' pro-life secretariat, had expressed cautious approval last year for an experimental technique called "oocyte assisted reprogramming," aimed at creating cells with the properties of embryonic stem cells without ever producing or harming a human embryo.
"If animal trials show the technique to work as planned, and the eggs needed for the technique can be obtained in an ethical manner, it could provide a morally acceptable way to pursue biomedical research with these cells," he said.
Stem-cell research was a hot topic on Capitol Hill in mid-June, with the National Pro-Life Action Center also holding a briefing about scientific advances achieved with adult stem cells and umbilical-cord blood.
"To date, embryonic stem-cell research has failed to produce one successful treatment," said Paul Chaim Schenck, director of the center. "Conversely, adult and cord-blood stem-cell research has yielded over 65 successful treatments, including curing diabetes in some patients."
Schenck said the center opposes "so-called 'compromise bills'" such as the Santorum-Specter proposal because they "would not only set up an unnecessary slippery slope and be morally bankrupt, but from an investment perspective would be an act of gross negligence."
Bill Schneeberger, a Catholic from South Euclid, Ohio, has taken a novel approach to raising awareness about adult stem-cell research through the sale of Italian wines whose packaging carries information about the research. His company, Bogo Wines, also donates $2 from every case sold to organizations working to promote adult stem-cell research.
"I realized that no one was going to bat for these tiny frozen embryos," Schneeberger said in a statement. "Using babies as research tools is evil incarnate. This debate will determine how we view life for many future generations."
Bogo Wines and Do No Harm: The Coalition of Americans for Research Ethics hosted an event June 20 on Capitol Hill featuring wine tasting and testimonies by patients who have been helped by adult and cord-blood stem cells to treat spinal cord injury, heart disease, brain damage, cerebral palsy and other conditions.
McQuade and Doerflinger represented the pro-life secretariat at the event, called "A Toast to Adult and Cord-Blood Stem Cells: Helping Patients Now and in the Future."
END
Copyright (c) 2006 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
CNS · 3211 Fourth St NE · Washington DC 20017 · 202.541.3250
|
|
|
|
