New Jersey voters reject $450 million ballot measure.
New Jersey voters yesterday turned down a $450 million, 10-year plan to fund embryonic stem-cell research. Proponents, including Democratic governor John Corzine, argued that the measure would help lead to possible medical cures for a host of maladies. Opponents, including New Jersey Right to Life, said Public Question # 2 would finance "the creation, experimentation and then destruction of cloned human beings through the entire period of normal gestation." NJRL also criticized supporters for their "deceptive failure to disclose that the bonds will be paid through higher local property taxes if sales tax revenues are insufficient."
The outcome marks the first time since 1990 that New Jersey voters have rejected a statewide ballot initiative. The state has already committed $270 million in taxpayer money to pay for stem cell research facilities. New Jersey has the fourth highest debt of any state and the highest property taxes. Other states, however, are likely to pick up the financial slack for such research.
Several states are competing in the research. California previously approved spending $3 billion on stem cell research, Connecticut has a $100 million program, Illinois spent $10 million and Maryland awarded $15 million in grants.
It bears repeating: Embryonic stem cell research involves the destruction of nascent human life. Adult stem cells have no such ethical issues. And just on a pragmatic basis, the choice should be clear by now. According to the website stemcellresearch.org, medical treatments derived from adult stem cells outnumber those derived from embryos 73-0.
Posted by Stan Guthrie on November 7, 2007 9:53AM
Comments
I don't disagree that embryonic stem cell research is a danger to good life-ethics; but this debate is so muddied and politiciezed that I'm cautious about trying to make pragmatic arguments.
It could be countered that the reason adult stem cell research outpaces embryonic is because the limits of funding for embryonic. Again, not arguing for it. Just cautioning the use of isolated statistics to try and make a point.
Posted by: Matt K at November 7, 2007
NJ voters are not merely objecting to high taxes and more state spending by rejecting the stem cell research plan. After all, they did approve $200 million for open space preservation. But open space is a precious resource they can see and touch and value. Stem cell research funding is at best a promise of future health benefits and at worst one more potential corporate-welfare money-pit. And many NJ voters do, in fact, object to embryonic stem cell research on moral grounds. So let's give NJ voters credit for being discerning and fiscally responsible - unlike their leadership.
Posted by: George Leon at November 7, 2007
It doesn't matter what the voters of NJ decided. Gov. Corzaine and the NJ legislature think their voters are so ignorant that they couldn't really understand the complex issue of stem cell research, so they are going to proceed in spite of the vote. As usual, liberals like Corzaine are smarter than the rest of us, including all the residents of New Jersy. Now the plan is to solicit funding from those evil drug companies. It seems that liberals like Corzaine constantly attack the big Pharmaceutical companies as "evil" until they want to hit them up to fund their pet projects. Talk about bold-face hypocrisy!!
Posted by: Dale R. Yancy at November 9, 2007
Post a comment