Citizens' Initiative Effort Launched to Protect Stem Cell Research and Cures in Missouri

12 October 2005

A coalition of patient
advocacy groups, medical organizations and concerned citizens today launched
an effort to seek voter approval of a state constitutional amendment designed
to ensure that any stem cell research, therapies and cures permitted by
federal law will continue to be allowed in Missouri. The amendment, called
the Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative, is the first state
measure in the nation that would clearly protect the right of patients to have
their diseases and injuries treated with any stem cell cures allowed by
federal law.
The citizens' initiative is a direct response to recent attempts by some
Missouri politicians to pass legislation that would have made Missouri
patients guilty of a felony crime for having their diseases and injuries
treated with stem cells produced with a promising new technique called Somatic
Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT). SCNT provides a way to use a patient's own cell
and a donated, unfertilized egg to produce stem cells that can turn into and
regenerate any type of cell in the human body. Because these stem cells match
the patient's genetic makeup, the problem of immune system rejection and the
need for finding a genetically matching donor are avoided.
Voter approval of the Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative --
by a simple majority vote -- will prevent state-level bans of any type of stem
cell research and cures allowed under federal law, including those involving
adult stem cells and early, or embryonic, stem cells (ES cells) from the SCNT
process and from leftover fertility clinic embryos that would otherwise be
discarded. The measure will ensure that Missouri patients have access to any
stem cell therapies and cures allowed in the U.S. and ensure that Missouri
medical institutions can provide and help find those cures. It also creates
ethical and safety guidelines for ES cell research conducted in Missouri.
And, it resolves concerns about human cloning by strictly banning human
reproductive cloning to create babies.
This initiative is sponsored by the Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving
Cures, a broad-based coalition that includes concerned citizens throughout the
state and dozens of patient and medical organizations -- including the
American Diabetes Association, Christopher Reeve Foundation, Coalition for the
Advancement of Medical Research (which represents more than 90 patient
advocacy, disease and research organizations), Juvenile Diabetes Research
Foundation, Parkinson's Action Network, Stowers Institute for Medical Research
and Washington University in St. Louis.
"In the coming months, our Coalition will work to collect the voter
signatures needed to place the Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative on the
November 2006 statewide ballot," said Coalition Chairman Donn Rubin. "Many of
the state's top medical experts and medical institutions have joined with
local and national patient groups to support this effort. We are confident
that the majority of voters will agree that Missouri patients should have
access to any stem cell cures that are allowed in this country and available
to patients in other states."
Former U.S. Senator John C. Danforth, an Honorary Co-Chair of the Missouri
Coalition for Lifesaving Cures, noted that the group also includes a number of
members of the clergy and other people who are pro-life, including himself.
"I'm pro-life. During my entire career, I voted pro-life," said Sen.
Danforth, an Episcopal priest. "I strongly support the Stem Cell Research and
Cures Initiative because it will save lives and because it respects the
sanctity of life. It protects medical research and cures that can save the
lives of hundreds of thousands of Missouri children and adults -- and it
strictly bans human cloning."
In addition to Sen. Danforth, other Honorary Co-Chairs of the Coalition
include:

-- Dr. Michael R. DeBaun, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the
Washington University School of Medicine and Director of the Sickle
Cell Medical Treatment and Education Center at St. Louis Children's
Hospital;

-- Sen. Thomas Eagleton, former U.S. Senator for Missouri and former
State Attorney General;

-- Karen Pletz, J.D., President and CEO of the Kansas City University of
Medicine and Biosciences;

-- Dr. Hugh Stephenson, former Interim Dean and Chief of General Surgery
at the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine and former
President of the University of Missouri System Board of Curators; and

-- James and Virginia Stowers, Co-Founders of the Stowers Institute for
Medical Research in Kansas City.

The overwhelming majority of patient advocacy groups, medical experts and
medical organizations agree that all types of stem cell research should be
pursued to find new medical cures. More than 50 years of research on adult
stem cells has produced such lifesaving treatments as bone marrow transplants
for leukemia patients. Now, the new frontier in stem cell research involves
ES cells. Medical researchers believe these unique cells have the potential
to provide cures for more than 70 devastating diseases and injuries -- such as
diabetes, Parkinson's, MS, cancer, heart disease, ALS, sickle cell disease and
spinal cord injury -- that afflict hundreds of thousands of children and
adults in Missouri and millions of other Americans.
"As a pediatrician, a father and a Missouri citizen, I wholeheartedly
support the Stem Cell Initiative," said Dr. F. Sessions Cole, Director of
Newborn Medicine at St. Louis Children's Hospital. "For many of our babies --
and for their parents and grandparents -- stem cell research offers the
greatest hope for lifesaving cures. We must pass this measure to ensure that
our children and all Missouri patients will have access to those cures."
"The American Diabetes Association and many other major patient
organizations strongly support this vitally important effort to ensure that
Missouri patients have access to all future stem cell cures," said Veronica De
La Garza, Advocacy Director for the American Diabetes Association, South
Central Region. "Each type of stem cell has its own special characteristics
and potential to cure different diseases and injuries. Most medical experts
agree that SCNT stem cells and stem cells from excess fertility clinic embryos
could provide lifesaving cures for medical conditions that can not be cured
with adult stem cells, including juvenile diabetes and Type 2 diabetes.
Patients in Missouri -- and in all states -- clearly deserve the right to have
equal access to those cures."
"Stem cell research has the potential to provide better treatments and
cures for many currently incurable medical conditions, including spinal cord
injury, diabetes, Parkinson's and many others," said Michael Manganiello,
Senior Vice President of Government Relations for the Christopher Reeve
Foundation. "Voter approval of this groundbreaking measure will protect
patient access to future therapies and cures that improve and save the lives
of hundreds of thousands of people in Missouri -- and provide a model that may
be needed in any other states where politicians try to impose state-level bans
on stem cell treatments that are permitted by federal law."
Initiative supporters will work to gather the nearly 150,000 voter
signatures needed to place the Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures
Initiative on the November 2006 statewide ballot.
A complete copy of the proposed measure and background information is
available on the Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures website at
http://www.MissouriCures.com .
"Citizens and organizations that support the Stem Cell Initiative can help
by signing our petition when they see one of our signature gatherers in their
community," said Rubin. "They can also help by joining our coalition. You can
join online and get more information by visiting our website or calling us
toll-free at 800-829-4133."

This voter information authorized and paid for by the Missouri Coalition
for Lifesaving Cures, Sandra Aust, Treasurer.

CONTACT: Connie Farrow
(314) 968-2600
Bill Musgrave
(816) 931-7417