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JANUARY 2006
Vol. 33, No.
1 |
Law Will Expand Availability of
Umbilical Cord Blood for Treatments
BY Liz Townsend
President George Bush
shakes hands with pro-life Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) after
signing the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act at the White
House. |
The use
of umbilical cord blood stem cells to treat and cure many diseases will be
enhanced by the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act, passed by Congress after
a seven-month delay and signed by President George W. Bush December 20.
"Not only has God in His infinite wisdom and goodness created the placenta and
umbilical cord to nurture and protect the precious life of an unborn child,"
said bill sponsor Rep. Christopher Smith (R-N.J.), "but now we know that another
gift awaits us immediately after birth, something very special left behind--cord
blood that is rich with stem cells."
The act will provide $79 million to obtain 150,000 more units of cord blood,
which is expected to help treat up to 90% of patients who need the versatile
cells. The blood is derived directly from placentas and umbilical cords donated
by parents after their babies' birth, without harming the donor.
Cord blood stem cells have been used to treat thousands of patients suffering
from more than 60 different diseases, including leukemia, Hodgkin's Disease,
sickle cell disease, and thalassemia. Researchers also theorize that they may
have the capacity to differentiate into other cell types, making them useful in
the exploration of ethical stem cell therapies for even more diseases.
 Continue article...
Cloning Researcher
Accused
of Falsifying Evidence
BY Liz Townsend
 |
| South Korea's Hwang Woo-suk
answering questions at a press conference where he announced his
resignation as head of the World Stem Cell Hub. |
Embryonic stem cell research
proponents are reeling in the wake of allegations that their most prominent and
celebrated researcher, South Korea's Hwang Woo-suk, fabricated evidence and
violated fundamental scientific procedures, calling into question all of his
reported breakthroughs that have provided some of the few "successes" in the
field.
Hwang has admitted to lying about the source of human eggs used in his research,
while experts are questioning his claims of creating the first stem cell lines
from cloned embryos that genetically match their donors, the first cloned
embryo, and the first cloned dog.
Hwang resigned as head of the World Stem Cell Hub and other government-funded
stem cell research agencies November 24 after confirming that he used eggs
donated by his research assistants, a violation of international research
protocol.
The scandal has prompted some of the first negative reports about human cloning
and embryo experimentation from the mainstream media. Accounts typically report
any alleged "breakthroughs" in awe-filled tones, completely ignoring the
immorality of creating designer human beings and then killing them for their
stem cells.
Continue article...
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Vol. 33, No.
1
|
|
From the President
 |
|
Wanda Franz, Ph.D. |
PUBLIC CONFUSION ABOUT ROE v. WADE
AND
DOE v. BOLTON
n
The 1973 decision [of Roe v. Wade] is so ingrained in public consciousness
that most people can recognize the case by its name. [Emphasis added.]
—Knight Ridder news story, 12/31/05
n
Most women in the survey could not name the case that prompted the Supreme
Court’s 1973 decision legalizing the right to abortion in the United States.
Forty-three percent correctly identified the case as “Roe v. Wade” (or came
close to offering the exact name), 2% gave some other name, and 55% admitted
outright that they did not know the name of the case.…
Half of women (51%) now say they would like to see very strict limits on
abortion—34% who think it should only be permitted in cases of rape, incest
and to save the woman’s life and 17% who think abortion should never be
permitted. Two years ago, 45% of women preferred either of these two kinds
of very strict limitation on abortion. [Emphasis added.]
—Poll for the Center for Gender Equality by Princeton Survey Research
Associates, 4/7/03
n
“In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that states laws which made it
illegal for a woman to have an abortion up to three months of pregnancy were
un-constitutional, and that the decision on whether a woman should have an
abortion up to three months of pregnancy should be left to the woman and her
doctor to decide. In general, do you favor or oppose this part of the U.S.
Supreme Court decision making abortions up to three months of pregnancy
legal?” (Emphasis added to highlight misrepresentation.) Poll result: Favor
52%, oppose 47% [highest in 20 years].
—Harris Poll question used since 1973 (!), data from 3/3/05
Read Dr. Franz's Entire Column
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