Life Links 3/18/11

A Colorado bill designed to prosecute individuals for killing unborn children was doomed by a single sentence.

The provision in question says nothing in the bill "shall be construed to confer the status of 'person' upon a human embryo, fetus or unborn child at any state of development prior to live birth."
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Colorado Right to Life accused the GOP sponsors, including Majority Leader Amy Stephens of Monument and Rep. Bob Gardner of Colorado Springs, of being RINOs (Republican in Name Only). The group also accused Waller of conceding the "battle with the liberal, godless, left-wing abortion industry."

In a letter, the organization called the bill a "16-page monstrosity that has specific anti-personhood wording."

In a small Phase I study, adult stem cell have been used to treat patients with enlarged hearts.

The approach involves taking stem cells from a heart patient's own bone marrow, then injecting them into the patient's damaged heart.

The result: a significant improvement of heart performance within months, and a significant reduction in both scar tissue and heart size within a year after the initial therapy......

What's more, by the one-year point after a single stem cell injection, heart size was found to have diminished by an average of 15 to 20 percent. That reduction, they noted, is roughly three times what's achievable with current therapies. The approach also reduced the presence of scar tissue by an average of more than 18 percent.

Misinformed reporters strike again on stem cell research - this time in Oklahoma. NewsOK claims that the Oklahoma House passed a bill "banning embryonic stem cell research." If reporter Michael McNutt actually took the time to look up and read the legislation, he would realize that H.B. 1442 doesn't ban embryonic stem cell research, it bans destroying human embryos for research. Nothing in the bill would prevent researchers from working on embryonic stem cell lines.

H.B. 1442 outlaws "destructive research on a human embryo" and defines it by saying:

“Destructive research” means medical procedures, scientific or laboratory research, or other kinds of investigation that kill or injure the subject of such research."

McNutt's article also includes this howler from Jennie McDaniels, D-Tulsa:

“I do value life,” McDaniel said.

“I value the life of the unborn child, and I understand what embryonic research is about and I ask you to think about how it can help lives. ... Why would we say Oklahoma is closed to this type of research? Why put roadblocks up?”