Tom Barrett is making EMBRYONIC stem cell research a campaign issue.
From the Chicago Tribune, AP:
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett says he will back stem cell research just like Gov. Jim Doyle if he's elected governor.
Barrett says it's wrong for opponents of embryonic stem cell research to suggest the work is unethical.
Barrett says he will be a champion for stem cell research being done at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and will stand up to attempts by lawmakers to limit it. He praised Doyle's record in that regard.
...His Republican opponents, Mark Neumann and Scott Walker, oppose embryonic stem cell research but support other forms that do not involve the destruction of human embryos. The facility he toured uses a mix.
This is déjà vu all over again.
It feels like Jim Doyle's 2006 campaign. Barrett is taking up Doyle's EMBYRONIC stem cell mantle.
From 2006:
DPW Misleads Wisconsin Voters
It's Stem Cells, Stupid
Stem Cell Research: Jim Doyle STILL Lying
JIM DOYLE IS PRO-CLONE
Last I heard, Tom Barrett claims to be a practicing Catholic; but obviously he has some major conflicts with the Catholic Church.
Read the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' statement on EMBRYONIC stem cell research.
Stem cells from adult tissues, umbilical cord blood, and placenta (often loosely called “adult stem cells”) can be obtained without harm to the donor and without any ethical problem, and these have already demonstrated great medical promise. But some scientists are most intrigued by stem cells obtained by destroying an embryonic human being in the first week or so of development. Harvesting these “embryonic stem cells” involves the deliberate killing of innocent human beings, a gravely immoral act.
...The Catholic Church “appreciates and encourages the progress of the biomedical sciences which open up unprecedented therapeutic prospects” (Pope Benedict XVI, Address of January 31, 2008). At the same time, it affirms that true service to humanity begins with respect for each and every human life.
Because life is our first and most basic gift from an infinitely loving God, it deserves our utmost respect and protection. Direct attacks on innocent human life are always gravely wrong. Yet some researchers, ethicists, and policy makers claim that we may directly kill innocent embryonic human beings as if they were mere objects of research—and even that we should make taxpayers complicit in such killing through use of public funds. Thus, while human life is threatened in many ways in our society, the destruction of human embryos for stem cell research confronts us with the issue of respect for life in a stark new way.
If Barrett is going to run on EMBRYONIC stem cell research, and he is, then he has to address the issue of his support of the direct attack on innocent human life, something his Church considers to be gravely wrong.
Tom also strongly supports stem cell research and investing in biotechnology to ensure that Wisconsin remains a world leader in these important fields that save lives, make groundbreaking advances, and create thousands of good-paying jobs in our state.
Scott Walker and Mark Neumann strongly support stem cell research, just not the kind that requires the killing of human life.
Barrett condemns his opponents for pushing an "ideological agenda."
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said Monday he fully supports embryonic stem cell research and criticized his Republican opponents in the race for governor for their opposition to the potentially life-saving research.
"My concern is you have candidates for office . . . who want to inject politics into science," Barrett, a Democrat, said after touring the stem cell labs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Waisman Center.
"I think it would be a huge mistake to allow an ideological agenda to stop the work that's being done here."
..."You have people who are not world-renowned scientists who are telling world-renowned scientists what they can and can't do," Barrett said of the Republicans' positions. "The work that's being done here is being done in a very ethical fashion, and to somehow imply that it's not being done in an ethical fashion is simply dead wrong."
No, Tom, you are dead wrong.
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