MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH
Cloning human embryos becomes 'constitutional
right'
Missouri voters narrowly approve support for biomedical research
industry
Posted: November 8, 2006
11:16 a.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
A ballot initiative in Missouri written to enshrine in the state
constitution the right to clone human embryos for "research" was
approved by voters by a single percentage point, and pro-life
organizations have said they expect a court challenge to the
plan.
The state's Amendment 2 was advertised as a human cloning ban,
however, the 2,000-plus word document bans only the process of
actually creating a live human being from cloning and inserts the
right to clone human embryos in the constitution.
Voters have now "ushered in an era of death in Missouri under the
false claim of helping vulnerable members of society. On the
contrary, the most vulnerable the innocent embryonic child is
now at greater risk than ever before," said Judie Brown, president
of the American Life League.
"We are profoundly disappointed that the state of Missouri, with
the passage of Amendment 2, will now allow the categorical
destruction of innocent human beings through cloning and embryonic
stem cell research," she said.
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"For the past several months, we have watched the proponents of
Amendment 2 slither through the state of Missouri, never telling
the truth about what the amendment actually said. They said it
would ban human cloning, but now Missouri will be cloning human
embryos, experimenting on them and then killing them.
"They said that human embryonic stem cell research would benefit
those who suffer from tragic diseases such as Parkinson's disease
and Lou Gehrig's disease. And yet we all know that not a single
success story can be related to the killing of human embryos," she
said.
State officials said that with 3,570 of 3,734 precincts reporting,
the initiative had gotten 1,024,136 votes to 996,584 against.
That's a division of 50.7 percent for and 49.3 percent
against.
"We are saddened by the passage of Amendment 2 and recognize that
it only passed because this proposal was carefully crafted by the
powerful bio-tech lobby's lawyers to purposely be misleading and
confusing," said Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, the president of Human
Life International.
The organization is the world's largest pro-life, pro-family human
rights group with more than 90 affiliates in 75 nations.
He blamed the passage on greed.
"Jim Stowers personally poured millions of dollars into this effort
to abuse the good will of Missouri voters who were told a vote for
this amendment would've actually banned cloning. Stowers' motives
were pursuit of power, profit and a blatant disregard for the life,
health and well-being of women," Euteneuer said.
He was referring to the operations Stowers manages through the
Stowers Institute for Medical Research, which describes itself as
an organization that "aspires to be one of the most innovative
biomedical research organizations in the world."
The institute "conducts basic research on genes and proteins that
control fundamental processes in living cells."
Opponents of the amendment charged that Stowers contributed
millions to the campaign, with a plan to reap billions in income
eventually.
"This amendment is inherently deceptive, exploitative and
misleading and the people of Missouri deserve better. Women and
their fertility will now be treated like a commodity that can be
bought and sold on a whim, while subjecting women to a dangerous
procedure that can cause irreparable harm and even death,"
Euteneuer said.
"We further hope that this amendment will be found unconstitutional
in the Missouri courts and that the people of the state will take
firm, determined action to undo this terrible injustice," he
said.
"This is no triumph for science, it is a victory for dishonesty and
confusion a new Tower of Babel where words have no meaning,"
said D. Ben Mitchell, the chief of The Center for Bioethics &
Human Dignity.
Mitchell said the proposal simply described cloning the way
supporters wanted, even though "practically every scientific
authority disagrees with them."
"Missouri voters have sown the wind and they will reap the
whirlwind," said Mitchell. "You cannot sow the seeds of immorality
into the constitution of the state and not harvest a whirlwind of
problems in the future."
Missourians Against Human Cloning, which campaigned in the state
about the deceptive wording of the amendment, had featured "The
Passion of the Christ" star Jim Caviezel and other celebrities in
its ads.
Jim Caviezel, star of "The Passion of the Christ"
Jaci Winship, a spokeswoman for the Missouri group, said the $30
million cloning promoters spent on their campaign shows "you can
buy a constitutional amendment in Missouri to benefit a single
special interest."
"Missouri is poised to be known as the Clone-Me State instead of
the Show-Me State," she said. "What is clear is that Missouri is
sharply divided straight down the middle on this issue, and we
shouldn't be amending the Constitution with just 50.7 percent of
the vote. We will continue to carry this battle forward. Our
coalition is staying together and we have a lot of work to
do.
"While this may be a setback the battle goes on and we won't rest
until truth wins the victory and deception is defeated."
Besides Caviezel, Patricia Heaton, of "Everybody Loves Raymond" and
Kansas City Royals' Mike Sweeney opposed the cloning plan.
"These are people who have been wanting to be involved, wanting to
know what they could to do help," Winship told WND. "They pulled
this together, and they speak about Amendment 2 in their own
words."
Actor Michael J. Fox, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, had
promoted the cloning research as a potential for phenomenal cures
for many diseases but later said he didn't actually read the
proposal and didn't know what it did.