It's a deliberately provocative title, I know, but hey, at least I toned it down from my
previous DK post.
But it's a serious question, and I honestly am curious what people think. Aside from the extremely noticable exception of DefCon, the larger progressive groups have been virtually AWOL on this issue. For that matter, so have the progressive blogs. And as a result, although 75% of America supports stem cell research, the 25% who oppose it are the ones being heard on Capitol Hill.
Here's why I hope this will change -- and why I hope all of us as progressives, progressive groups, and progressive blogs will get off our collective ass and start doing something THIS WEEK... (go to StemPAC.com, steal any content you want, and use it)
HR 810 is the single most important piece of Federal stem cell legislation in years. It would rescind President Bush's draconian restrictions on funding. Miraculously, it passed in the House last year, and as Frist announced last week, the Senate will finally vote on it too. President Bush has threatened to veto it. Here are some key points:
1) Though no time is set, credible sources in the Senate say this could be the week for a vote. July 12th is the date that keep popping up.
2) The opposition (Focus on the Family, etc.) is pounding the Senators to vote against this. They are generating far, far more grassroots outreach than the pro-stem cell side. The pro stem side has been led by the patient advocacy groups. Check out the Alexa ranking for "Family.org" vs. any of the largest patient groups, and you'll get a sense for what we're up against. They are out-grassroots-ing us big time, and multiple Senators have specifically noted this troubling disparity, and why it makes it "difficult" to support this.
3) The progressive community has been frankly about 99% AWOL on this issue. The patient advocates have been doing it alone, and as great as they are, they are simply not built for this kind of fight -- at least not alone.
Regardless of what you're hearing in the news, a winning vote is by no means a done deal. 60 votes are needed to pass this, and it will be close. And the way the Senators are getting pounded, this thing is very tenuous.
Now, I know folks are already working on a range of critical issues, but let me make a few arguments why this one should be at least as high priority as any of them:
1) Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, paralysis, etc., etc., etc.: I've been knee deep in this issue for most of the last year, and even the most cautious researchers are frankly elated by the potential of this research. Animal tests with embryonic stem cells have already gotten paralyzed rats walking (http://www.stempac.com/...). With the right funding, we're talking "years" for cures, not decades. I mention Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and paralysis in particular, because they are among the closest (because cures would likely involve regenerating tissue specifically), but the list is much larger in the long term.
2) Personal: I got into this because my two-year old nephew was diagnosed with a terminal illness in April of 2005. Thanks to adult stem cell therapy, the disease (Tay Sachs) has been stabilized, but he will need embryonic stem cell research to fully recover (for the "regenerative" part).
Of course, that's just one story. There's a slew more that you can read, at http://www.stempac.com/....
3) Political: If President Bush actually goes ahead and vetoes this, it will be his first veto. It will get a lot of attention, and will put a number of vulnerable Republicans in the extremely awkward position of sustaining his veto, or publicly breaking with their president. There are already a number of serious groups starting to prepare ads to run in key districts.
If you are leading one of these groups -- please do something. If you are a part of one of them -- please tell your leaders to do something. If you have a blog, please write about it. Yada, yada, yada, just do something. Seriously, this deserves at least 1/10 the attention spent on net neutrality, the Lieberman-Lamont campaign, etc., etc., etc.
I know I might sound a bit cranky on this, but bear with me -- I just was at a conference where people who were literally paralyzed managed to get across the country to fight for this cause. If they can get off their asses -- surely we can too.
Need more motivation? Here are a few of the folks you could be helping (more stories at www.stempac.com/stories/).
1) "My now 9-year-old son was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes, a chronic, incurable disease, when he was only 7. Because his pancreas no longer works at all, he must poke his finger for blood sugar tests around 10 times every day..."
http://www.stempac.com/... for full story
2) "Sam was diagnosed on January 3rd 2003, at the age of 2 1/2 years old. He was in severe DKA, and we did not know if he would live through the night. That was the beggining to our horror story. Sam is now almost 5 and his sugar levels are still very unstable. He has to have 3 shots a day, and around 10 finger pokes. His fingers are so callused and scared, no child should have to go through so much pain on a daily basis. But inspite of everything he goes through, he is the best natured and sweetest little boy you will ever know..."
http://www.stempac.com/... for full story
3) "Being paralized is the hardest obstacle that i will ever have to face in my life. I am suffering from spinal cord injury from my waist down, this happened to be because someone decided to shot me after taking my money. I was robed and then shot about three months ago. I had to undergo surgery for them to remove the bullet, then i had to stay at a rehab center for about a month so i can adjust to being paralized. I used to think my life was bad before but after all this i feel as though my life was a peice of cake before. I am 20 years old and the doctors tell me that i will never walk again..."
http://www.stempac.com/... for full story
4) "My family is affected by Huntington's Disease, which is a genetic hereditary neurological disorder with no known cure. The disease has been described as having the physical symptoms of Parkinsons and mental affects of Alzheimer's. Research led to the discovery of the Huntington's Disease gene in 1993. The gene is inherited at birth, but the symptoms do not usually develop until the ages of 25 and 50. The disease causes brain cell death in the areas affecting motor movement and cognitive ability. Two of my three aunts have tested positive and are now in the middle stages of the disease. They find it difficult to walk, talk, swallow, follow simple instructions..."
http://www.stempac.com/... for full story
5) "In 1993 my father, Juan, had a devastating stroke. It resulted in 80% of his cerebellum being destroyed. After 6 months in a coma my father awoke to his new fate. Not being able to walk, go to the restroom by himself, cook, shave, brush his own teeth, or even be able to communicate verbally with his own..."
http://www.stempac.com/... for full story