Bill would allow N.J. to borrow $230 million
Assembly’s disinterest may postpone stem cell referendum
By Chris Donahue
Staff Writer
The N.J. Senate approved a bill June 30 that would ask voters to allow the state to borrow $230 million to fund stem cell research centers. But the measure is expected to fail this legislative session because the Assembly is not likely to vote on it in time to make it available on Election Day.
The New Jersey Stem Cell Research Bond Act (S-1091), which was approved by a 26-9 vote, authorizes the sale of state general obligation bonds to finance the costs of providing stem cell research grants to eligible research institutions over seven years.
The bill was received in the Assembly July 4 and referred to the Health and Senior Services Committee. However, the Assembly seems unlikely to vote on it before the Aug. 29 deadline for it to be included on the Nov. 7 ballot according to some of its members. If the measure is not adopted, the earliest it could appear on a ballot is 2007.
Church’s stance
The Catholic Church opposes testing that involves human embryonic stem cells because they involve destroying an embryo approximately seven days after its creation to harvest the cells. The church supports research involving adult (non-embryonic) stem cells, which does not require the destruction of a human life. Adult stem cells come from adult tissue, placentas or umbilical cord blood and can be retrieved without harming the donor.
In addition to being morally acceptable, adult cells are the only type of stem cell proven therapeutically successful. Adult stem cell research has resulted in 70 documented benefits in human patients while embryonic stem cell research has yet to yield a single result, according to the Washington-based DoNoHarm: The Coalition of Americans for Research Ethics (www.stemcellresearch.org).
The Catholic bishops of New Jersey have consistently opposed legislation involving human embryonic stem cell research on the basis that creation and destruction of human embryonic stem cells violate the sanctity of human life.
The bishops wrote, “It is more important than ever to stand for the principle that government must not treat any living human being as research material, as a mere means for benefit to others. Research that relies on the destruction of some defenseless human being for the possible benefit to others is morally unacceptable.”
Legal maneuvers
An amendment to S-1091 to limit research to adult stem cells was proposed in a Senate Budget Committee hearing, but it was not accepted, said Marie Tasy, executive director, New Jersey Right to Life, who testified before the legislative group June 26. Also, an amendment added by Sen. Anthony R. Bucco to limit the research to adult stem cells was defeated 23-14, Tasy said.
A bill providing $265 million for life-saving stem cell therapeutic therapy, cord blood and bone marrow treatments, which was signed by President Bush in 2005, makes it unnecessary for N.J. to fund the research, Tasy said.
“ New Jersey is already facing a $5 billion budget shortfall and should not be pursuing research that is not only unethical, but has not provided cures. Federal funding is already being allocated to support research that has been successful in treating over 70 diseases,” she said.
Missing links
The bill adopted June 26 does not include two references to human cloning included in the original bill introduced Jan. 26. The first reference in the Jan. 26 version of “definitions” not included in the June 26 version states: “human cloning means human asexual reproduction accomplished by introducing nuclear material from one or more human cells into a fertilized or unfertilized oocyte whose nuclear material has been removed or inactivated so as to produce a human fetus that is substantially genetically identical to a previously born human being.”
The second reference in the Jan. 26 version in section “(3) g” not included in the June 26 version states: “No funds authorized for, or made available to, qualified research institutions pursuant to this act shall be used for the purpose of human cloning, which is a crime under section 3 of N.J. law P.L. 2003, c.203 (C.2C:11A-1).”
The missing references to human cloning, Tasy believes, were made to soften the public’s perception of how life is destroyed in human embryonic stem cell research and eventually human cloning.
“During the hearing, they announced they had amendments but did not disclose them to the public,” Tasy said. “This confirms that sponsors are trying to keep the public in the dark about the type of research they are going to do in New Jersey. It is unconscionable and irresponsible.”
According to P.L. 2003, c.203 (C.2C:11A-1), it is a first-degree crime if someone “knowingly engages or assists, directly or indirectly, in the cloning of a human being.” Cloning means “the replication of a human individual by cultivating a cell with genetic material through the egg, embryo, fetal and newborn stages into a new human individual.”
But a loophole exists in the law because it means that cloning would not occur, and no crime would be committed, before the child was “through — that is past or beyond or done with — the ‘newborn stage,’” Tasy said. There is no definition of what ‘newborn’ is in the law, she said.
The N.J. Stem Cell Research Bond Act also poses serious ethical problems created by the demand for human eggs needed in experimental cloning, a process also known as somatic cell nuclear transfer, or SCNT, Tasy said.
“Specifically, the concerns are related to the exploitation of women necessary for the development of SCNT. This is especially true for poor and minority women. It would mandate taxpayer funding of this immoral research and grant total immunity for the biotech industry,” she said.
Impact on taxpayers
According to the bill, if research fails or bonds do not sell as stated in section 21(b), it would require a reliance on property taxes to pay for it.
Section 21(b) says, “if, at any time, funds necessary to meet the interest, redemption premium, if any, and principal payments on outstanding bonds issued under this act are insufficient or not available, there shall be assessed, levied and collected annually in each of the municipalities of the counties of this state, a tax on the real and personal property upon which municipal taxes are or shall be assessed, levied and collected, sufficient to meet the interest on all outstanding bonds issued hereunder and on the bonds proposed to be issued under this act in the calendar year in which the tax is to be raised and for the payment of bonds falling due in the year following the year for which the tax is levied.’”
A copy of S-1091 is available on the NJ Legislature website.
*The attached/referenced article was originally published in The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen, and is protected under U.S. and international copyright law