For paralyzed hockey player
Travis Roy, his greatest hope of walking again lies in the tiniest
cluster of human cells. Stem cells from embryos could one day help the
body repair itself.
Travis Roy,
Paralyzed Hockey Player
"There's so much excitement around it. And we need to make it happen
now, because I don't want to be in this chair one day longer than I
have to be."
A new bill would make Massachusetts just the second state, behind
California, to support stem cell research. There's economic as well as
medical incentive.
Sen. Cynthia
Creem (D) Newton
"We all know this research is going to take place. If it doesn't
take place here, it's going to take place somewhere else. Scientists
are going to California because it's a safe haven."
Supporters say there are 128 million people in this country, who
suffer from chronic, degenerative or debilitating illnesses or
injuries, who could possibly benefit from this research. But there are
passionate critics.
Fr. Tad
Pacholczyk, St. Patrick's Church, Falmouth
"Every person in this room was once an embryo… As a former embryo
myself, I for one am grateful I was never sliced and diced in that
manner."
Yet people of all ages
are pleading for the bill's passage.
Lauren
Stanford, 11-Year-Old Diabetic
"Be brave. Support this research for me. I know it may
sound selfish but I really want to know what it's like not to be
sick."
While the bill would
support the stem cell research and possibly keep more scientists here
in Massachusetts, it would ban human cloning for reproductive
purposes.
