It may be Monday, but it also happens to be a great day, thanks an executive order to be signed later today in the White House's East Room by President Obama.
Last fall you heard myself and others constantly beat the Prop 2 drum, and thankfully Michigan overturned a restrictive ban on embryonic stem cell research. Literally within hours of the election, the University of Michigan's Life Sciences Department responded in kind, activating an expansion and development plan of their Stem Cell Biology program.
Today's executive order from President Obama overturns the archaic regulations imposed by Bush that limits the funding used on stem cell research. Up until now, researchers using federal grant money were stuck using stem cell lines developed before August of 2001. Most of those lines were old and unusable.
Not only does this executive order allow for more research, it also allows labs, like the one at U of M to hire more researchers. i.e. more jobs to find cures to debilitating diseases like Parkinson's, juvenile diabetes, Alzheimer's, cancer, spinal cord injuries, and to help victims of burns, among a host of many other maladies.
At the beginning of the year, a wise man speculated, as many before him had, that stem cell research could be key to Michigan's survival, particularly with the state of the Auto Industry. Just a few short weeks later, the FDA approved the first human trial therapy developed with embryonic stem cells.
The election was just a few short months ago, and Prop 2 becoming law even sooner than that, it looks as if Michigan got on board the bandwagon just in time.
I've wrote about it, I've blogged about it, my family even made their first ever YouTube and blog post. I don't know any other way of getting across how incredibly meaningful it is to me that Proposal 2 passes.
As much as I am open about sharing my thoughts in blog posts about this policy or that politician, when it comes to telling the world how difficult my own journey has been (or even showing my face on The Intertubes) because of my Crohn's Disease, it's a different story.
But I'm doing it because Proposal 2 is personal. It's about hope for me, my family, and those you know who deal with chronic disease and injuries.
Please, give us the hope for cures here in Michigan. Watch this that my mom and I taped, and then send it on to everyone you know and encourage them to say YES to Proposal 2.
If you read a newspaper, watch the evening news, or surf the web, there's a good chance that you've heard from one of the thousands of people that could personally benefit from embryonic stem cell research if Proposal 2 passes in Michigan.
From the U.P. to the southeast corner, Michigan's media has been closely following and reporting on this issue. Channel 7 in Detroit has an excellent analysis on both sides of the issue and TV 6 in Marquette offers a very introspective piece.
Whether it's living with Juvenile Diabetes like Ryan does, or a spinal cord injury like the one that Laura has, stuck with Multiple Sclerosis like Brenda is, a chronic heart condition like Kipp, or living with a chronic digestive disease like I do, it's amazing how a personal story can really cause people to think, and it's something that we're all hoping everyone does come November 4th.
As a person who has Crohn's Disease, something for which there is currently no known cause or cure, I'm fighting like hell to make sure that Michigan voters are hearing from people like Ryan, Laura, and myself because this issue is so important. Not just to us, but to families, our friends, and if we can have them, our children.
It's also important to the thousands more that will be diagnosed now and in the future with illnesses/injuries like ours, and cancer, ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), Parkinson's, blindness, and the list goes on and on.
When the diagnosis is handed down, their lives will be shattered just as ours were. The difference for them after November 4th will be whether or not hope exists in the form of treatments and cures, something that for many of us is not available now, but something that Proposal 2 will.
We all remember how bravely actor Christopher Reeve fought for this very issue after suffering from a spinal cord injury, or how hard Michael J. Fox has pressed the country after his diagnosis with Parkinson's.
So from the thousands of Michigan residents whose lives are consumed with pain, illness and injury, all we ask is that you be our Superman or Superwoman on November 4th and vote Yes on Proposal 2 to Cure Michigan.
At an event in Waterford this past weekend, Bill Clinton said that embryonic stem cell research "was the pro-life position" and was all about helping people -
“There isn’t a person here who doesn’t know someone who could be benefited by this work,” Clinton told the crowd of several hundred in Waterford Township, northwest of Detroit. ... "This is about letting Michigan do what can be done in almost any other state.”
It seems as it most folks around the state feel the same way, including Catholics, in spite of the church's hierarchy coming out against Proposition 2, which would amend the state's constitution overturn the archaic ban and allow for the research.
The National Catholic Register has an online poll about the topic, and 76% of those who took it support this necessary research. Kind of makes you think, doesn't it?
Current law dictates that these unused stem cell lines must be discarded if not used by couples who donate them to fertility clinics. These clinics are literally forced to throw out something that could be used to find a cure. As if that weren't atrocious enough, a researcher that dares to use these lines to help find a cure could be jailed up to 10 years in prison. If that's not backwards, I'm not sure what is.
Clinton's got a real point. Using something that currently gets thrown out and turning it into improving the quality of life for thousands and even saving lives for thousands others is about as pro-life as one can get.
To me, if the Catholic Diocese were truly sincere about being pro-life, it seems they should be out protesting fertility clinics that throw out these life-saving lines, not pouring enormous amounts of time and money into fighting this initiative that could save so many. I mean - where is the outrage that these embryos are being destroyed in the trash?
I also think that it shows that everyday citizens like you and I realize that this research could make a world of difference for someone we know that suffers from Diabetes, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, blindness, or like me - an auto-immune disease like Crohn's Disease, for which there is no known cause or cure.
Imagine what a difference it would make if our healthcare costs weren't so high treating life-long illnesses. Insurance might actually be affordable, and the economic gain that the state would reap from new businesses and research would be a real shot in the arm.
So while a few high ranking individuals hope that we're going to act like sheep in a literal sense more than just a figurative one, I'm extremely inspired to see that so many of us, regardless of our backgrounds and religious beliefs all agree that Michigan needs Prop 2 to cure what ails us and our state.
(Sign up to help spread the word about Prop 2 with a letter to the editor of your local paper here.)
Halloween is still weeks away and yet there's already a heavy emphasis on trickery by those few who for some unknown reason, would like to keep Michigan trapped in the Dark Ages.
Luckily for the rest of us, the treat for Michigan is not hard to find. It lies within the truth, and the promise of hope and cures for thousands across the state who will benefit from overturning the state's ban on stem cell research in the form of Proposition 2.
Chances are you've already been treated to the desperate tricks of the opposition. You know that ad that's running on TV, the one that looks like a bad spoof from the SciFi channel featuring fictitious companies like 'Human Harvest' and 'Crop Corp'? Yeah, that'd be the folks that seem to be all about serving up scary but short on hope and cures for those of us who suffer. Go figure.
I have a feeling these are the same type of people who didn't believe Copernicus when he said that the Earth was round or Alexander Fleming, who discovered that penicillin could be used treat disease in the human body. But with their latest campaign built on lies and deception, one can only guess what sorts of method drive their madness.
Don't be fooled into thinking that this is a partisan issue. Two of the Cure Michigan's Campaign top folks are some of the state's most respected Republicans. From a press conference yesterday -
"They simply are not telling the truth," said former U.S. Rep. Joe Schwarz, chair of the MiCure campaign. "I cannot use the word inaccurate, this is worse than inaccurate" he said of the ad that began airing in the state over the weekend.
The insinuation of a corporate plot to waylay responsible, ethical stem cell research is stunningly disingenuous," Schwarz added. "Our opponents are fabricating sinister-sounding names for non-existent medical research companies they want voters to believe will exploit the invaluable research into cures provided by Proposal 2. We want to make sure voters aren't duped by opponents of cures."
“I spent years in the Michigan Legislature, and I saw a lot of political wheeling and dealing, but this deliberate deception is appalling,” said Rick Johnson, former Republican Speaker of the House and a CureMichigan board member. “Opponents of cures know taxes are a hot-button issue, so they’re pushing it even though it has no basis in fact.”
Let's face it, the only scary thing we have to face about stem cell research in Michigan is not allowing it and we have thousands, young and old, black and white, rich and poor that are left to suffer from debilitating diseases and injuries. We can't afford not to cure Michigan.
Don't be fooled, ignore the trickery of those who oppose cures for Michigan and make sure you say 'Yes' to Prop 2.
The latest ad from the group Michigan Citizens Against Unrestricted Science and Experimentation (MiCAUSE), the group working to defeat November’s ballot initiative Proposition 2, is so filled with lies and deceit that you might think it’s a move straight out of the infidelity handbook.
When the lying starts, you know it can only mean one thing: those who are doing the lying don’t have a leg to stand on in terms of their argument.
Despite what you may have heard from the folks over at MiCAUSE, the passage of Prop 2 WILL NOT result in a massive tax increase for Michigan taxpayers. Don’t believe me? Well, head on over to http://curemichigan.com/ballot.php and read the ballot language for yourself. Notice how the word “taxes” never even once comes up.
Instead, what Prop 2 actually does is lift the ridiculous ban on embryonic stem cell research – of which, Michigan is one of the few states to still uphold. The ballot initiative directs any and all stem cell research to be conducted on lines of stem cells that are produced by fertility clinics and would otherwise be tossed in the trash, if not used. It also puts an end to the outlandish practice of throwing scientific researchers into jail if they’re making an effort to find cures and treatments for such diseases as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Lou Gehrig’s.
Virtually everyone knows someone who has suffered from a debilitating and degenerative disease. We all have a parent or a sibling or a friend or a coworker who has undergone the agony of a spinal cord injury, or an aggressive cancer that refuses to be stopped. By lifting the ban on stem cell research, we can give these people a light of hope. Stem cell research can provide the cures and treatments that we have been looking for, as it has already done so much for people in other states.
So please, let’s stop living in the dark ages, where science is punished and ignorance rewarded. Let’s start opening the doors to cures and treatments, rather than keeping those who have suffered in the dark. Vote “yes” on Prop 2, and let the race for cures to debilitating diseases begin.
Ward Connerly is at it again. The man who brought you California's Prop 209 and Michigan's Prop 2 (with the spectacularly Orwellian title of "Michigan Civil Rights Initiative")has set his sights on five other states.
Connerly, who has already gathered nearly 130,000 signatures in Colorado for a similar ballot initiative, is also ramping up efforts in Arizona, Missouri, Oklahoma and Nebraska. Thanks to Federal District Court Judge David Lawson's ruling earlier this month (which found that Prop 2 did not violate the Constitution), Connerly will have an easier time bringing his own, um, unique view of racial equality to the voters of those states. The $1.5 million he's raised should help smooth the way, too.
At the same time, grass-roots groups, the ACLU and other organizations are gearing up for the fight. Voter education programs are underway and in Missouri, the initiative's language is currently tangled up in court.
At the end of the day, no one is questioning the right of citizens to collect signatures or place questions on the ballot. That's how we roll in a democracy, even when we don't agree.
What isn't so democratic, though, is someone coming into a state and using wads of cash to push his own vision onto the public. Connerly is a California resident whose meddling has changed the law here in Michigan, and is moving through the heartland like a well-funded, media-savvy swarm of locusts.
I'm guessing that the residents of Connerly's target states will recognize puppet strings when they see 'em, and remind Mr. Connerly that a state ballot isn't a McDonald's franchise to be purchased by an out-of-towner with a few million to spare.
