SPEAKING OF DEMOCRATS' WEDGE ISSUES...:

Mo. May Vote on Stem Cell Research: Scientists Fight Possible Ban as Criticism Mounts (Peter Slevin, December 25, 2005, Washington Post)

The Stowers Institute and Washington University in St. Louis are potent lobbying forces and prime backers of the Missouri amendment drive. The national roster of supporters includes the Lance Armstrong Foundation, the Christopher Reeve Foundation, the Parkinson's Action Network and the American Diabetes Association.

Before voters can address the amendment, which would also create oversight mechanisms and outlaw the creation of a cloned human, supporters must overcome a legal challenge filed by the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund.

"The primary evil with human cloning is they're cloning a human for the purposes of harvesting the parts, the stem cells," said lawyer Kevin Theriot. "The real problem is the ballot title and summary says the purpose of the initiative is to ban human cloning when in fact it authorizes a type of human cloning."

Cole County Senior Judge Byron Kinder set a hearing for Jan. 19. "I assume we're going to have to go into the question of when does life begin," Kinder said.

The principal local challenger is Missourians Against Human Cloning, incorporated last month by Missouri Catholic Conference executive Weber. The Catholic conference and the Missouri Baptist Convention formally joined the case last week.

Catholic bishops asked parish priests and deacons to speak about the issue at Mass.

St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Leo Burke has described the proposed research as "intrinsically evil." Burke -- who said he would deny communion to Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), a Roman Catholic, because of his support of abortion rights -- said parishioners must not succumb to "false promises and statements by this initiative's proponents."

Ethics in Research Debated: Stem Cell Debacle Spurs Calls for Improved Oversight (Rob Stein, December 25, 2005, Washington Post)

The stunning revelation that a South Korean researcher faked landmark stem cell experiments has sparked an intense new debate about the safeguards designed to prevent and catch scientific fraud.

While it remains unclear what motivated Hwang Woo Suk, the case has highlighted how the increasingly rapid pace of science, and rising international competition, may be intensifying the temptation to fake results, experts said.

That mad scientist is the perfect poster boy for the Death Lobby.

Posted by Orrin Judd at December 25, 2005 8:59 AM