OPPOSED<

New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms and the thousands of churches that it represents, object to the State of New York funding unethical scientific research. Last year, the Legislature approved $100 million for stem cell research and set up the Stem Cell Research Board with two committees: (1) Funding and (2) Ethics.

The Ethics Committee sighting the progress in obtaining embryonic-like stem cells, called for a six month moratorium on funding projects that use embryonic stem cells. This call was ignored initially by the Funding Committee.

New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms urges the members of the New York State Legislature to insure that NO STATE FUNDS will be used for embryonic stem cells, for the following reasons

• FACT: Although scientists have successfully used adult stem cells in the treatment of close to one hundred diseases, in spite of the hype - NO CURES HAVE COME FROM EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH.
  
• FACT: A human embryo must be destroyed to obtain embryonic stem cells. In 1999, President Clinton's National Bioethics Advisory Commission (NBAC) acknowledged broad agreement in our society that, human embryos "deserve respect as a form of human life" (NBAC, Ethical Issues in Human Stem Cell Research, 1999, p. ii). Destroying early human life shows a profound disrespect for human life.
  
• FACT: Proponents of embryonic stem cell research claim that they only want to use In-Vitro Fertilized (IVF) embryos that will be “discarded anyway.” The truth is that more than 90% of embryos stored in IVF clinics are saved for later use by parents or donated to other infertile couples for implantation (RAND Law & Health Initiative).
  
• FACT: Stem cells from IVF embryos will cause serious immune rejection problems when transplanted into patients.
  
• FACT: Researchers argue that to avoid immune rejection, we need to clone people to make stem cells that are genetically identical to the patient receiving the stem cell transplant.
  
• FACT: Continued state funding of embryonic stem cell research will create an incentive to create and kill more human embryos for stem cells, which will lead to a New York State, human embryo farm industry.