Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005
STEM CELL RESEARCH ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2005 -- (House of Representatives - May 24, 2005)
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Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Speaker, I have a profound deep and abiding belief in the right to life. I have introduced a constitutional amendment to ban abortions every session of Congress since 1997 and have a perfect pro-life voting record.
Two years ago I visited the Bader Peach Orchard in Campbell. I met the Baders' son, Cody, after my tour. Cody is a handsome and articulate young man who happens to live in a wheelchair because of a car accident. Cody asked that I rethink my opposition to embryonic stem cell research because he thought that one day if it did not help him, it might just help another young person like him. I later wrote a note to Cody's family telling them that even after hearing his story, I could not do as he asked. And I have regretted writing that letter ever since.
My friends Joel and Dana Wood have a son James, who was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy when Dana was 9 months pregnant. James may never see his 21st birthday, and this is just heartbreaking. My late husband, Bill Emerson, and his mother, Marie, who passed away last night, both suffered from diseases for which stem cell research holds much hope: cancer and dementia. Embryonic stem cells are the only avenue for research we know of now that can possibly help alleviate those two diseases. Neither adult stem cells nor cord blood are plausible for the study or treatment of brain tissue.
I have met with ethicists, scientists, two priests, and my own minister to talk about this agonizing decision. But when presented with an embryo, an embryo that cannot live outside a uterus, an embryo that is going to sadly be thrown out as medical waste, and the lives of little James Wood and young Cody, I ask do they not have as much of a right to life as that embryo that is going to be tossed away?
I had dinner last Thursday night with my daughter and her friend, Will Coffman. Will's story is much like Cody's. We talked and talked about this issue. And Will said to me, We may never know how the story will end, but please do not let the story end right now.
Mr. Speaker, my pro-life credentials are unquestioned. Who can say that prolonging a life is not pro-life? Technology and faith continue to present agonizing decisions and conflicts. Each life is precious, and so I must follow my heart on this and cast a vote in favor of H.R. 810.
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