Stem Cell Bill Takes Center Stage Today

March 22, 2006
Dear Pro-Life Friends:
The following is an update of NJ Stem Cell Funding Bills.
S1471/A2828 – Senate bill authorizes $250M in bonds to build three Stem Cell Institutes; Assembly bill authorizes $200M for same.
On Monday, March 20, the NJ Senate amended S1471 a second time to add technical changes. The bill will most likely be scheduled for a vote in the next Senate Voting Session. The Senate and Assembly bills vary in amounts. The Senate bill, S1471, will borrow $250M in bonds from cigarette tax revenues to build three Stem Cell Institutes; one in New Brunswick, one in Camden and one in Newark. The Assembly bill, A2828, will borrow $200M in bonds from cigarette tax revenues to build the same three Institutes. The Assembly bill, A2828, was released from an Assembly Health Committee and is waiting a hearing before the Assembly Appropriations Committee. If it is released from the Assembly Appropriations Committee, it can be scheduled for a vote in the full Assembly.
NJRTL testified against both of these bills. We made it clear that we support adult stem cell research, but oppose cloning and embryonic and fetal stem cell research and asked the legislature to add language that would limit the funding and the research to adult stem cell research only. Not surprisingly, our request fell on deaf ears. Under previous legislation signed into law by Governor McGreevey in 2003 which established the type of stem cell research to be performed in NJ, researchers are authorized to perform clone and kill research on human embryos and fetuses through the newborn stages. Some lawmakers continue to claim NJ law bans human cloning, but the definition of human cloning used in this law says that the crime of cloning does not occur until the child created through cloning is past or through the newborn stages.
See the following references to cloning and NJ law:
Paul Mulshine’s May 26, 2005 Star Ledger Column on the NJ law
http://www.njrtl.org/core/newsletter_details.asp?ArticleID=890
Letter to Governor McGreevey from Members of the President’s Council on Bioethics concerning NJ law
http://njrtl.org/content/newsletter_details.asp?ArticleID=619
Letter from Law Professors analyzing NJ law that authorizes cloning
http://www.njrtl.org/core/newsletter_details.asp?ArticleID=620
NJRTL Op-ed:
http://www.thnt.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051206/COLUMNISTS/512060387/1004/OPINIONS1091/A1891– The Stem Cell Research Bond Act of 2006
If approved by the legislature and signed by Governor Corzine, this legislation will enable the legislature to place a question on this November’s election asking NJ voters to approve borrowing $230M in bonds to fund stem cell research. These bills have not yet moved. The legislature and Governor have until the end of August to approve these bills in order for the question to be placed on the ballot in time for this November’s election. Under previous legislation signed by Governor McGreevey in 2003 which established the type of stem cell research to be performed in NJ, researchers are authorized to perform clone and kill research on human embryos and fetuses through the newborn stages. Some lawmakers continue to claim NJ law bans human cloning, but the definition of human cloning used in this law says the crime of cloning does not occur until the child created through cloning is past or through the newborn stages. See above section for references on cloning.Governor Corzine calls for funding of stem cell research in budget address

I was present in Trenton yesterday to see and hear Governor Corzine give his first budget address. Although the media reported on Corzine’s call for expansive tax increases, most media sources failed to mention that he also called for long-term borrowing for stem cell research which will increase NJ’s tax burden. The reaction from the audience to Corzine’s endorsement of stem cell research funding was noteworthy in that it received a less than enthusiastic applause from an audience that consisted mostly of Corzine’s cabinet, supporters and legislators.
Action Needed:
Both Houses of the Legislature are officially on budget break through the end of April, but that does not mean we should take a break. It does mean that we have more time and additional opportunity to rally opposition in our communities and in our churches to these wrong-headed proposals.
Please continue to call and email your State Senator and two Assembly members and urge them to vote NO on S1471/A2828. Activate phone, fax and email networks. If you don't know your legislators' phone numbers, you can call the Office of Legislative Services at 1-800-792-8630. You can send a pre-written message to all three state legislators directly from our legislative action center:
http://capwiz.com/njrtl/state/main/?state=NJ
or go to www.njrtl.org and click on tab in right hand corner that says, "Legislative Action Center." Thank you,
Marie Tasy
Executive Director

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