Voters to decide fate of live human embryos

On August 21, 2008, the Michigan Board of Canvassers approved signatures collected by the Stem Cell Ballot Question Committee. The approval by the Board of Canvassers means Michigan voters will decide at the polls on November 4 whether to legalize the unrestricted use and killing of human embryos in research experiments by a constitutional amendment. The language to amend the constitution to allow the smallest of human beings to be treated as research materials will appear on the ballot in November as Proposal 2.

While proponents of killing human embryos for research claim Proposal 2 is about stem cell research and has strict restrictions, the loop-hole filled language of the ballot initiative allows for unrestricted and unregulated research on human embryos.

Proposal 2 would ban any state law which might "prevent, discourage, or restrict research, or create disincentives to participate in the research." In other words, if a state or local law regulates research on human embryos, scientists can ignore that law. State Senator Tom George has rightly pointed out that no other industry in Michigan has a clause in the Michigan Constitution which prevents lawmakers from passing regulations on them.

A broad based coalition of organizations, individuals and law makers from both political parties are concerned with the far-reaching language of Proposal 2. The constitutional amendment could prevent the legislature from passing laws which guide stem cell research in Michigan. One example is the creation of animal-human hybrid embryos for experimentation. Passing Proposal 2 could allow scientists in corporate labs to mix cow and human genes together for experimentation, just as is currently being done in England. Radical science is not what Michigan needs.

When defending their proposal, proponents of Proposal 2 point to a clause which states Michigan researchers must abide by federal laws when doing research on human embryos. What they fail to mention is that there are no federal regulations for research on human embryos. So Proposal 2 takes power from Michigan voters and gives control to politicians in Washington, D.C. who would have to pass a federal law in order for research in Michigan to be regulated. Since Proposal 2 would change the Michigan Constitution, it would supersede any Michigan law and block any future attempt by the state to regulate experimentation on live human embryos.

If Proposal 2 passes, the debate over bioethics in Michigan won't end there. Proponents of Proposal 2 are also the leading proponents of overturning Michigan's ban on human cloning. Their main spokesperson was quoted as saying Michigan's ban on human cloning could be revisited if Proposal 2 passes.

Others are concerned about what unrestricted research on human embryos in Michigan will look like in the future. This measure would allow the buying, selling and killing of human embryos for experimentation. Proposal 2 opens the door to black market trafficking of human embryos for unrestricted research. With a limited supply of embryos and eggs, and so much money at stake, pressure for a black market will be enormous. The lack of human eggs could also lead to attempts to create animal-human hybrid embryos. Due to a lack of available human eggs for cloning experiments, researchers in England are currently attempting to create cloned "hybrid" embryos using animal eggs and human cells.

The issue of using Michigan tax dollars to fund embryonic stem cell research could also be an issue for the future if Proposal 2 passes. Proponents of Proposal 2 recently paid a professor at Wayne State to write a paper on how embryonic stem cell research could affect the Michigan economy. In the paper, Professor Allen Goodman suggests that spending $15 million in Michigan taxpayer money on embryonic stem cell research "could demonstrate tremendous state support for science." Spending $15 million of Michigan tax funds is later labeled a "modest public investment." If Proposal 2 passes, how long will it be before the Michigan public is asked to make a "modest public investment?"

In order to battle this deadly proposal, Right to Life of Michigan has joined together with other concerned organizations and individuals to form the Michigan Citizens Against Unrestricted Science and Experimentation (MiCAUSE). For more information about Proposal 2 and how you can help defeat it, please visit www.micause.com.

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