Mo. Catholics Back Stem Cell Research

Comcast.news ^ | 05 Nov 06 | Associated Press

[facedown]

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A group of prominent Catholics is challenging church leaders' opposition to stem cell research and to the proposed Constitutional amendment that would protect such research in Missouri.

The group, led by former Sen. Tom Eagleton, e-mailed a letter to fellow Catholics last week explaining its reasons for supporting Amendment 2, which Missourians will vote on Tuesday.

The amendment would ensure that any federally approved stem cell research and treatments would be available in Missouri.

The letter from Catholics for Amendment 2 said the group felt a moral obligation to respond to what it called misinformation, scare tactics and distortions being spread by opponents of the initiative, including the church.

"Some people want to ban all stem cell research," the letter said. "At the other extreme there are those who would like to see research proceed completely unfettered. We believe that Amendment 2 strikes a responsible balance ... (with) clear ethical boundaries and safety guidelines."

The letter challenges Missouri's Catholic bishops, who sent letters last week urging parishioners to vote against Amendment 2. It included a brochure that said the amendment also would divert money from college loans and health care, and prohibit any governor, judge or other officials from regulating or limiting the research.

Bishop Robert Finn of the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese wrote that the amendment would enshrine in the state constitution the right to clone human beings.

"This extreme protection of one industry, for something that is inherently and gravely immoral, is unprecedented in any state," Finn wrote.

[facedown]

Note the lack of distinction between "stem cell" research and "embryonic stem cell" research.

The group, led by former Sen. Tom Eagleton,...

Perfect.

[Bahbah]

Take a look at this.

[PhillyRepublican]

Is that the Eagleton that ran as McGovern's running mate until it came out that he had received electric shock treatment?
I'm Catholic and I support stem cell research. ADULT stem cells.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Bite down hard on this, Tom...

[Enterprise]

Oh barf.

[Paleo Conservative]

Sen. Tom Eagleton

I'm shocked!

[facedown]

Is that the Eagleton that ran as McGovern's running mate...

I'm pretty sure that it is: Thomas Eagleton

[peggybac]

I agree. It's EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH, but the MSM is speaking to the lowest denominator who won't read up about this. Why don't the repubs say more about this distinction? The govt. supports adult stem cell research and if embryonic stem cell research were so promising, all the money in the world would be given by private donations and companies. It drives me so feckin' nuts.

[The_Reader_David]

Mo. Catholics Apostates Back Embryonic Stem Cell Research

There, fixed that.

(If I hadn't gotten to it, I suspect one of my separated Latin bretheren would have made the correction sooner or later.)

[cardinal4]

*Sigh*

[woodb01]

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[utahagen]

Any "Catholic" who publicly backs EMBRYONIC stem cell research should be excommunicated pronto.

[big'ol_freeper]

The title of the thread itself is deceiving. Besides the issue of stem cell research vs. fetal stem cell research, the title makes you think that Catholics in general support "stem cell research" (and specifically fetal stem cell research) when its actually some group using the Catholic name that has come out in favor of the ballot question. The headline makes one think that Missouri Catholics are in opposition to the Church position.

The fact is that I would guess most Catholics do support stem cell research. Hopefully very few support fetal stem cell research. This is exactly the Church position.

[narses]

+

If you want on (or off) this Catholic and Pro-Life ping list, let me know!

[G Larry]

Amendment 2 is deceptively written and the lies truly begin when proponents attempt to explain it.

It pretends that "cloning" doesn't occur when the embryo is CLONED, but only after that CLONED EMBRYO has been implanted in the womb.

The "logic" is that since the baby is killed before it can be born, it's not cloning.
What a pack of lies!

[Pan_Yans Wife]

I thought this was about cloning.

[kinoxi]

misinformation, scare tactics and distortions being spread by opponents of the initiative, including the church.

I'm not to keen on Mo politics but these sound like modified dem talking points, the blame game with no supporting evidence.

[johnny7]

LOL... Tom needs his voltage increased.

[Unam Sanctam]

I am so fed up with these "Catholic" politicians who don't give a darn about the teachings of their face and who relish poking their fingers in the Church's eye every chance they get. And my state's two execrable senators (Kennedy and Kerry) top the list of offenders...

[E=MC²]

Something I haven't seen addressed is this: assume that embryonic stem cell research does result in a fantastic cure for some important disease. Where would all the embryonic stem cells then come from needed to treat the millions of afflicted by said disease???

[Unam Sanctam]

Sorry: face = faith

[facedown]

Where would all the embryonic stem cells then come from needed to treat the millions of afflicted by said disease???

"Harvested" fetal tissue, or cloning.

[E=MC²]

"Harvested" fetal tissue, or cloning.

Exactly! (Sounds like the creation of a MARKET for unborn babies to me.)

[madprof98]

"Some people want to ban all stem cell research," the letter said.

A complete lie - and a deliberate one. But we'll be hearing plenty more from "Catholics" like this as long as the Church smiles politely and grants them all the annulments they request.

[Angelas]

"Tom needs his voltage increased."

He needs to be excommunicated and fast!

[ottothedog]

We call him "Sparky".

[petkus]

Has anybody heard from any of the Cardinals in the Catholic Church about this Amendment?

Where is Cardinal Roger "Illegal Alien" Mahony, George, Eagan, O'Malley "Teddy Kennedy's in Boston", Eagan, McCarrick, et.al.?

None of these sanctonmoinious Cardinals have said anything about this Cloning Amendment but they are full of Hot Air when it comes to supporting Amnesty for Illegal Aliens!

[golfisnr1]

Anything Eagleton is for I am against.

[OpusatFR]

"Note the lack of distinction..." Same here in VA in DNC comercials slamming Drake.

They pointedly omit the word Embryonic.

[badpacifist]

Tin foil eagle alert

[mewzilla]

It IS about human cloning. Legalizing it and enshrining it in the state constitution.

[mewzilla]

Amendment 2

Folks should read the fine print.

[Rameumptom]

Reminds me of the Reagen quote about Communists. How in a meeting they will try to make ten of their number seem like a hundred so the media can claim their view is mainstream. Less than 1% of Catholics agree with this group. According to the MSM 1% = a majority

[TigersEye]

MO amendment ratifies cloning as a right plain and simple.

[AuH2ORepublican]

No bias at all in the choice of headline. I was thinking "what sort of phony poll came to this conclusion?", but the story doesn't claim that most MO Catholics support Amendment 2, it says that *a few* MO Catholics support it. Ridiculous.

[TigersEye]

TexasPatriot8's wife has put together a website of collected information on stem cell research. I highly recommend it.

Stem Cell Research; Truth vs. Lies

[kcvl]

Thomas Francis Eagleton (born September 4, 1929) is a former United States Senator from Missouri, serving from 1969 until 1987. He is best remembered for briefly being a Democratic Vice Presidential nominee, sharing the ticket under George McGovern in 1972. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Eagleton, who had opposed the Vietnam War, was selected, on July 14, with only a minimal background check. Eagleton made no mention of his earlier hospitalizations.

Newspapers soon revealed them. McGovern and Eagleton initially joked about the case with Eagleton saying he would undergo a psychiatric examination if other candidates (e.g., Nixon) would do the same.



From 1960 to 1966, Eagleton checked himself into the hospital three times for physical and nervous exhaustion, receiving electric shock treatments twice. [1]

The hospitalizations, which were not widely publicized had little effect on his political aspirations, although the St. Louis Post-Dispatch was to note, in 1972, immediately after his vice persidential nomination:

He has been troubled with gastric disturbances, which have led to occasional hospitalizations. The stomach troubles have contributed to rumors that he had a drinking problem.[2]



In the general election, Nixon won every state except Massachusetts.

Missouri returned Eagleton to the Senate in 1974 and 1980.

During the 1980 election, Eagleton's niece Elizabeth Eagleton Weigand along with lawyer Stephen Poludniak, were arrested for blackmail after they threatened to spread false accusations that Eagleton was bisexual. Eagleton told reporters that the extorted money was to be turned over to the Church of Scientology. Polundniak and Weigand appealed the conviction all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, claiming they could not have not gotten a fair trial because of "the massive publicity surrounding this case, coupled with the pre-existing sentiment in favor of Sen. Eagleton." The Court turned down the appeal. Weigand was alleged to have heard from a third hand source Eagleton was seen disheveled and unshaven at the La Terrazza Di Marti (now known as LaTeDa) in Key West, Florida--an establishment which she said was frequented by homosexuals. Eagleton testified he had only been to Key West once, in 1972, and then with his son and daughter.[3]

Eagleton did not seek a fourth term in 1986.


He was instrumental to the Senate's passage of the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act, and sponsored the amendment that halted the bombing in Cambodia and effectively ended American involvement in the Vietnam War.


In January 2001, he joined other Missouri Democrats to oppose the nomination of former Missouri governor John Ashcroft for United States Attorney General. Eagleton's quote was evoked as the rallying cry of the debate and was entered into the official Judiciary Committee record.

"John Danforth would have been my first choice. John Ashcroft would have been my last choice."[4]

[onyx]

He's a disgusting POS.

[kcvl]

Eagleton: Former senator, writer Thomas F. Eagleton, LL.B., former U.S. senator (D-Mo.) and University Professor of Public Affairs at Washington University

[kcvl]

Don't hold back. lol!

[onyx]

Actually, when my husband was in residency, Eagleton was hospitalized in the mental ward for shock treatments.

[kcvl]

You aren't suppose to tell the truth about that! It's a big secret. We aren't suppose to know when a Democrat is a certifiable nut case.

[onyx]

LOL --- right.

[The_Reader_David]

Properly speaking it should not take a formal excommunication--all it should take is the priests being aware of the person's stance.

But seeing that the MO ballot initiative, misnamed the 'stem cell research initiative' is about human cloning, any supporters of the measure in your communion (as among us Orthodox) should be regarded as self-excommunicated. (Hence my correction to 'apostates.')

[LadyNavyVet]

I agree. I'm sick and tired of people whose real religion is Liberalism claiming to be Catholics.