On Friday, November 9, Monnie Lindsay, PAN’s Nebraska State Coordinator
and member of PAN’s Board of Directors testified in favor of embryonic
stem cell research (ESCR) at an Interim Study Hearing, held by the
Judiciary Committee of the Nebraska State Legislature in Lincoln.
Following the hearing, the Omaha World-Herald reported that Sen. Brad Ashford of Omaha, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said he expected to write new state legislation that would prohibit reproductive cloning, or the creation of a genetic copy of an organism. He mentioned that the legislation would probably allow therapeutic cloning, a process some scientists believe has research and treatment potential.
"Do we close the door or do we leave the door open?" Ashford said. "I think we leave the door open, but we watch it. . . . It needs to be watched and regulated, clearly, but it doesn't need to be banned."
Monnie provided similar testimony in March during a Nebraska state Judiciary Committee hearing.
The following are her remarks:
My name is Monnie Lindsay. I am the Nebraska State Coordinator for and a national board member of the Parkinson’s Action Network. I am here to talk about hope.
Hope is a tough commodity to come by when you have a chronic, neurodegenerative disease for which there is no cure. Embryonic stem cell research and therapeutic cloning in particular, offer hope to the million plus Americans suffering from Parkinson’s disease.
I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease 14 years ago, when I was 38 years old and only four years out of law school. My right arm had simply stopped working.
I was lucky— medications gave me an additional eight years of practicing law.
As it progressed, however, Parkinson’s disease robbed me of my career as a lawyer and my home in Chicago. Parkinson’s disease does not exempt members of this committee—the former chair of this committee, Peter Hoagland, lost his battle with Parkinson’s disease last week.
I did not come to the decision to support embryonic stem cell research lightly. I initially was inclined to oppose it. After reading the facts, eliminating the misinformation about the source of the stem cells, and doing some serious soul-searching, I concluded that embryonic stem cell research IS pro-life.
Dr. Elias Zerhouni, the Director of the National Institutes of Health, who serves at the pleasure of President Bush, has found this issue to be so compelling that he has risked his job by speaking out in favor of both adult and embryonic stem cell research. He has said that the greatest risk to scientific progress is to stop taking risks.
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who of course, is ardently pro-life, supports embryonic stem cell research, (and I’m now quoting):
“The passionate defense of life should not stop at birth. . .To me, an advocate for life has to consider not only our obligations to a group of cells with the potential for life but also our obligation to our fellow citizens-men, women, and children who will face untold suffering and lose many years of life unless there is a medical breakthrough…”
Senator Hatch continues:
“Some, particularly in the Right-to-Life community, argue that research on adult stem cells actually holds greater promise than the study of embryonic cells. Although adult stem cell research would clearly offer a preferable political solution, most leading scientific authorities . . . assert that embryonic stem cell research is by far the more promising course to follow at this time. For now a ban on the use of embryonic cells could materially impede progress, and the hope that this new field represents would be diminished and, perhaps, lost.”
I echo the sentiments of Dr. Zerhouni and Sen. Hatch. Please support the Parkinson’s disease community by supporting embryonic stem cell research.
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