ANNAPOLIS – Supporters of legislation to encourage embryonic stem cell research in Maryland beat back attempts in the House of Delegates Wednesday to weaken key provisions of the bill.
Based on Wednesday’s voting, in which supporters defeated five proposed amendments, the stem cell legislation appears to have the support it needs to pass the House of Delegates. Senate Republicans, however, have vowed to filibuster a Senate version of the bill, which may come up for debate on the Senate floor as soon as Friday.
The House version of the bill would provide $25 million for stem cell research, with priority being given to research not already funded by the federal government. Supporters and opponents of the bill agree that due to federal restrictions on funding for embryonic stem cell research put in place by President Bush, the proposed legislation would give priority to embryonic stem cell research.
Delegate Peter A. Hammen, D-Baltimore, chairman of the House Health and Government Operations Committee, took the lead in defending the legislation on the floor of the House during a lengthy debate that at times delved into complexities of in vitro fertilization and cell biology research.
“The bottom line here is the federal government declined to fund embryonic stem cell research,” said Hammen. “If there is a proposal for embryonic stem cell research, it will get priority.”
Critics of the bill, citing ethical and economic concerns, tried to remove the language in the bill that gives priority to embryonic research, but were defeated in a 53-83 vote. The margins by which this and other amendments were defeated indicate that the bill will probably draw the 71 votes necessary for approval.
Some opponents said that for religious reasons they simply could not support research on embryos. Other opponents argued that adult stem cell research has already produced results and should thus be the primary focus for state funding.
Still other opponents, like Delegate George C. Edwards, R-Garrett, argued that the state should at least give equal consideration to proposals for research on adult stem cells and embryonic stem cells.
“Let them compete on their own merits,” he said.
Hammen replied wryly that he would be happy to join Edwards in writing a letter to President Bush asking him to fund all types of stem cell research equally, but that until the President removes restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, the states need to “step up to the plate” and fund it themselves.
“We want to make sure the funding is there to fight these horrible diseases,” he said.
Hammen applauded Governor Robert L. Ehrlich, who is up for re-election this year, for proposing $20 million in the state’s budget for stem cell research, but said the governor’s funding might dry up in the future and that the legislation was needed to make sure that did not happen.
Supporters of the bill and many scientists claim that embryonic stem cells have the unique potential to transform into any cell in the body, a characteristic that makes them valuable research tools for finding cures to disease such as diabetes and Parkinson’s. They argue that the reason embryonic stem cells have not yet produced any treatments for diseases is that they have only been used for research for a decade or so. Adult stem cell research, on the other hand, has been going on for almost 50 years.
Arguing that the legislation was fiscally irresponsible, opponents also attempted to strip out the $25 million in research funding mandated by the bill, but were defeated by a 48-87 vote. Opponents also took exception to a clause that protects a type of cell cloning called “therapeutic cloning” that produces cells used to heal damaged tissues, such as the skin of burn victims.
The amendment to remove the clause about therapeutic cloning from the bill was introduced by Delegate Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio, R-Talbot, who argued that the language would leave the door open for human cloning.
But Del. Hammen drew a distinction between therapeutic cloning and human cloning, saying that therapeutic cloning reproduces clones of individual cells not whole human beings.
“This bill prohibits human cloning, period,” he said. He argued that even President Bush, who is opposed to embryonic stem cell research, has placed no restrictions on therapeutic cloning, and that there was no reason that Maryland should either.