Stem cell battle is heating up in Iowa

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By Todd Dorman | Thursday, February 22, 2007 12:32 AM CST | () comments

DES MOINES — Dozens of Iowans sharply divided over whether a controversial stem cell research bill offers a path to breakthrough cures or a road to immoral science gathered at the Statehouse on Wednesday night.

The issue was debated during a three-hour public hearing in the Iowa House chamber. Supporters — who outnumbered opponents on the speaker’s list but not in the gallery above — portrayed the bill as a crucial step toward finding new treatments for debilitating diseases.

The bill, Senate File 162, carves out an exception to Iowa’s 2002 ban on human cloning allowing researchers to use cloning techniques to produce embryonic stem cells for medical study. Backers insist those cells could hold the genetic blueprint to defeat illnesses such as Alzheimer’s, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease and ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease.

“You can provide real hope for valuable treatment and cures,” said Cindy Could of Ames, whose husband, Roger Could, suffers from ALS.

“We can all be a part of the cure by allowing all kinds of research to be done in Iowa,” said Karli Borcherding, 11, of Ankeny, who has diabetes.

But critics, including Iowa’s highest-ranking Catholic clergyman, Archbishop Jerome Hanus of Dubuque, charged that allowing research on cloned, embryonic cells is morally misguided.

“This is human life,” said Hanus, whose forehead was still marked with ash from Ash Wednesday Mass. “I think our faith helps us understand why respect for each human individual is important.”

Wednesday’s hearing may have a significant impact on the stem cell debate because the issue is seen as a tossup in the House. The bill was approved on a razor-thin 26-24 vote in the Iowa Senate and another close vote is expected when the House debates the issue.

Democrats control both the House and Senate and many campaigned on expanding research during last fall’s election. Democratic Gov. Chet Culver supports the bill and wants $12.5 million to establish a regenerative medicine research facility at the University of Iowa.

But Hanus and other opponents argued that embryonic stem cells have yet to yield any breakthrough treatments. They insist resources would be better spent pursuing advances through adult stem cell lines instead of allowing what they called “clone and kill” research.

Other critics argued that the bill would weaken Iowa’s ban on human cloning, even though the bill expressly prohibits cloning for reproductive purposes.

“Right now, the state of Iowa bans human cloning. What this bill would do is take that ban away,” said John Redwine, a physician and former Sioux City state senator who helped author Iowa’s cloning ban.

Dr. Mark Anderson, director of cardiology at the University of Iowa, disagreed.

“No one will clone humans in Iowa,” Anderson said. “This is a non-issue.”

Todd Dorman can be contacted at (515) 243-0138 or at todd.dorman@lee.net.