Remember when the Republican pundits were calling Stem Cell therapy "Junk Science" ??

Keep the tapes where they said that and use them in 2008 to discredit them because things are looking better for embryonic stem cells.

A new way of growing human embryonic stem cells in the laboratory will reduce the risk that their use in therapy could go wrong, say scientists.

BBC NEWS:
http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools...lth/4329563.stm

Senate backs bill to permit wider stem cell research

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOSTON - Despite a veto threat from the governor, the state Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill yesterday to give scientists more freedom to conduct embryonic stem cell research in Massachusetts.

The 35-2 vote came after less than two hours of debate, on the same day Gov. Mitt Romney launched a statewide radio campaign to urge the bill's defeat.

State Sens. Therese Murray, D-Plymouth, and Robert O'Leary, D-Barnstable, voted with the majority.

The governor has promised to veto the measure, which would allow scientists to create cloned embryos and extract their stem cells for research into the treatment and cure of diabetes, Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injuries and other conditions.

The future of the legislation, aimed at encouraging and regulating the research, is less certain in the House, which takes up the debate today. House Democratic leaders believe they have the votes to approve the bill but are unsure they have the two-thirds majority needed to override Romney's veto.

Romney says he supports research using adult stem cells or leftover frozen embryos from fertility clinics, but opposes the creation of new embryos. He unveiled a new radio ad hours before the debate, deriding the legislation as a "radical cloning bill."

"Cloning would mean creating new human life, new embryos, just for experimentation," Romney says in the 60-second ad running statewide and paid for by his political committee. "Help me oppose the radical cloning bill now on Beacon Hill."

Supporters of the legislation said Romney, a Republican, is using a "transparent scare tactic" to try to derail the bill, according to Sen. Charles Shannon, D-Winchester, who is battling cancer and could not attend Wednesday's debate.

"This bill will help save lives," Shannon said in a letter read on the floor of the Senate.

Romney said it is supporters of the bill who are trying to confuse people.

His opposition puts him at odds with some of the top university and research facilities in Massachusetts.

House and Senate versions of the bill differ on a few key issues. For example, the House would give the Department of Public Health greater power to regulate the research while the Senate limits the agency's powers.

(Published: March 31, 2005)

http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/senatebacks31.htm