The Minnesota House last Wednesday passed a bill that would allow the
University of Minnesota to use state funds to conduct research using
embryonic stem cells. The measure prompted a flurry of amendments by
pro-life Republicans designed to derail the bill.

Rep. Matt Dean, R-Dellwood, introduced an amendment that would limit
the use of embryos only to those that had died a "natural death." Rep.
Dan Severson, R-Sauk Rapids, offered an amendment that would have
forced Minnesota’s attorney general to investigate the University of
Minnesota, because Severson feels research conducted at the university
on embryonic stem cells violates the law.

"The researcher has to take this living organism and has to slice it
up," said Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Delano. "It destroys the living organism."
He continued, "Would we take an individual that is sentenced to life
imprisonment, would we start cutting them up for research? No. And you
might think that’s a little over the top, but it’s the same thing for
some of us."

It might be a little over the top. The embryos used for stem-cell
research are called blastocysts and have, on average, between 50-150
cells. An individual who is sentenced to life imprisonment has an
estimated 50 trillion to 100 trillion cells. And is of course a human
being.

Kahn’s bill would only allow research on embryos that patients have
donated to science. "Let’s talk about the life of those frozen
embryos," said Kahn. "They stay alive only as long as the couple who
created them wish them to stay alive. If the commercial entity that
stores those embryos isn’t paid, then those embryos are discarded and
at some point they are no longer viable and are discarded."

She also said that public funding would help to allay many people’s
concerns over cloning or unethical procurement of embryos for research.
"For people who have ethical concerns, you have to have public funding.
That’s the only way you get public oversight," she said.

The stem-cell bill passed the House 71-62 Wednesday afternoon. The bill
passed the Senate in the 2007 legislative session. Gov. Tim Pawlenty
will likely veto the measure.

The stark contrast in political ideology is evident in the dueling press releases that emerged Thursday morning after the vote.

From the office of Rep. Kahn:

 

ST. PAUL — Recognizing the significant potential for
medical and scientific breakthroughs, the House of Representatives
today passed legislation authorizing the University of Minnesota to
perform stem-cell research. The bill lays the scientific and medical
basis for stem-cell research and defines what can be studied, including
embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells. Rep. Phyllis Kahn (DFL –
Minneapolis), the chief author of the bill, said the bill enables
Minnesota to join other states on the cutting edge of medical and
scientific research.

"Stem-cell research offers immense potential to fight and cure
pervasive and chronic diseases," said Kahn. "Minnesota has historically
been a haven for biomedical and scientific innovation and we should
join other states in the effort to realize the curative promise that
stem-cell research can offer to hundreds of millions of suffering
Americans."

And from Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life:

 

ST. PAUL — In a heartless act of disregard for the
earliest stages of human life, the Minnesota House of Representatives
today voted 71-62 in favor of human cloning and embryo-killing
experiments. The vote approved the deadly Kahn Cloning Bill, S.F. 100,
which legalizes human cloning and forces taxpayers to pay for the
destruction of human life on a scale never before seen in Minnesota.

"House members today had a chance to do the right thing and protect
vulnerable human life, but instead they chose to treat human life as
mere raw material for experimentation," said Andrea Rau, MCCL
legislative associate. "It is a dark day for citizens to see their
taxes being spent on such unjust treatment of human life."

House members approved the deadly bill authored by Rep. Phyllis Kahn,
DFL-Minneapolis, which allows taxpayer funding for the destruction of
human embryos for experiments and also the wanton creation and
destruction of human life through cloning at the University of
Minnesota.