Inaccuracy and Histrionics in Louisiana
In a too-common occurrence, the media are inaccurately portraying a stem cell bill, and research advocates are exaggerating its potential impact. In Louisiana, HB 370 would prohibit the use of public funds - explicitly including federal dollars sent to the state - for cloning-based research. That such work is not occurring in Louisiana, and that there are no plans to begin, hasn't stopped research advocates from raising a ruckus.
After their protests, an "exception" was inserted into the bill to make it clear that federal funds would be permitted for work on stem cell lines that are eligible for such funding (i.e., created before August 9, 2001). But that exception has no impact, and is irrelevant. The original bill didn't affect those lines anyway: They weren't created via cloning, and the federal government doesn't fund cloning-based stem cell research in the first place.
Nevertheless, the primary newspaper of the state capitol, the Baton Rouge Advocate, says the bill "would impose a Louisiana ban on use of public funds for most embryonic stem-cell research." A scientist claims it will hinder recruitment of other researchers. And a blogger at the liberal MyDD claims the "radical" legislation "prohibits the use of public funds - state or federal - for stem cell research," and states that cloning-based stem cell research "saves lives."
"Premature" would be the most generous description of the claim about saving lives. "Flat-out wrong" is an accurate description of the rest.
Previously on Biopolitical Times:
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