Jivin J’s Life Links 3-18-11
by JivinJ, host of the blog, JivinJehoshaphat
- A CO bill designed to prosecute individuals for killing unborn children was doomed by a single sentence:
The provision in question says nothing in the bill “shall be construed to confer the status of ‘person’ upon a human embryo, fetus or unborn child at any state of development prior to live birth.”…
The Senate sponsor, Democrat Pat Steadman of Denver, said the language was intended to make sure the bill wasn’t about abortion….
Colorado Right to Life accused the GOP sponsors, including Majority Leader Amy Stephens of Monument and Rep. Bob Gardner of Colorado Springs, of being RINOs (Republican in Name Only). The group also accused [Rep. Mark] Waller of conceding the “battle with the liberal, godless, left-wing abortion industry.”
In a letter, the organization called the bill a “16-page monstrosity that has specific anti-personhood wording.”
- Misinformed reporters strike again on stem cell research – this time in Oklahoma. NewsOK claims that the OK House passed a bill “banning embryonic stem cell research.” If reporter Michael McNutt actually took the time to look up and read the legislation, he would realize that H.B. 1442 doesn’t ban embryonic stem cell research, it bans destroying human embryos for research. Nothing in the bill would prevent researchers from working on embryonic stem cell lines.
- In a small Phase I study, adult stem cells have been used to treat patients with enlarged hearts:The approach involves taking stem cells from a heart patient’s own bone marrow, then injecting them into the patient’s damaged heart.
The result: a significant improvement of heart performance within months, and a significant reduction in both scar tissue and heart size within a year after the initial therapy….
What’s more, by the one-year point after a single stem cell injection, heart size was found to have diminished by an average of 15 – 20%. That reduction, they noted, is roughly 3 times what’s achievable with current therapies. The approach also reduced the presence of scar tissue by an average of more than 18%.
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
Seems odd that the sentence would “doom” the bill, since similar language is already law in at least 2 other states, I believe.
If the bill is not about personhood, and is intended to criminalize the killing of fetuses in wanted pregnancies, what rational objection would lawmakers have to it, from either side of the aisle?