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1.: CALL MINNESOTA GOVERNOR TODAY! From: Stephen Meyer

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1.: CALL MINNESOTA GOVERNOR TODAY!

Posted by: "Stephen Meyer" Stephen276@comcast.net stephen_meyer_stemcells

Fri May 9, 2008 11:35 am (PDT)

CALL MINNESOTA GOVERNOR TODAY!

Yesterday afternoon I received a phone call from Representative
Phyllis Kahn (D-MN) saying that a very good stem cell research bill
for the state of Minnesota, had just passed their House of
Representatives, and was almost certainly going to pass the Senate
today, Friday, May 9th.

The only roadblock could be the Governor, Tim Pawlenty, rumored to be
on the short list of Senator John McCain's possible choices for Vice-
President. He might be tempted to veto this important bill.

Representative Kahn, a long-time stem cell research supporter, asks
us to do everything in our power to contact Governor Pawlenty. We
cannot let her down.

Please call Governor Tim Pawlenty, today. Leave a message with one of
his assistants, asking the Governor to sign the stem cell research
bill (HF 34/SF 100) which just passed the Minnesota state House of
Representatives.

Governor Pawlenty's phone number is (651) 296-3391.

I have a list of about 60 activists in Minnesota. I will contact
them. Do you have any friends in that state? If so, please call them,
and ask them to call the Governor.

Would you personally be one of the folks who will make the call to
Governor Pawlenty? Even if you do not live in Minnesota, it is
vital that he hears from us.

No Governor should be allowed to block stem cell research—and expect
to have it go unnoticed!

If he signs it, that is to his credit. If not, he must know that
America took note, that we are watching, and that we will remember in
November.

Thanks!

P.S. Below is the bill we support. It is an excellent permissions
bill, authorizing the University of Minnesota to spend state-
appropriated funds on full stem cell research.

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H.F. No. 34, as introduced - 85th Legislative Session (2007-2008)
Posted on Jan 08, 2007

1.1 A bill for an act

1.2relating to health; establishing state policy for stem cell
research; providing
1.3criminal penalties; appropriating money; proposing coding for new
law in
1.4Minnesota Statutes, chapters 137; 145.
1.5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 Section 1. [137.45] STEM CELL RESEARCH.
1.7 The University of Minnesota may spend state-appropriated funds
on stem cell
1.8research.

1.9 Sec. 2. [145.426] LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS.
1.10 The legislature finds and declares all of the following:
1.11 (a) An estimated 128,000,000 Americans suffer from the
crippling economic
1.12and psychological burden of chronic, degenerative, and acute
diseases and conditions,
1.13including diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and cancer.
1.14 (b) The costs of treatment and lost productivity of chronic,
degenerative, and acute
1.15diseases and conditions in the United States constitute hundreds
of billions of dollars every
1.16year. Estimates of the economic costs of these diseases and
conditions do not account for
1.17the associated extreme human loss and suffering.
1.18 (c) Stem cell research offers immense promise for developing
new medical therapies
1.19for these debilitating diseases and conditions and a critical
means to explore fundamental
1.20questions of biology. Stem cell research could lead to
unprecedented treatments and
1.21potential cures for diabetes, cancer, and other diseases and
conditions.
1.22 (d) The United States and Minnesota have historically been a
haven for open
1.23scientific inquiry and technological innovation and this
environment, coupled with the
2.1commitment of public and private resources, has made the United
States the preeminent
2.2world leader in biomedicine and biotechnology.
2.3 (e) The biomedical industry is a critical and growing
component of Minnesota's
2.4economy and would be significantly diminished by limitations
imposed on stem cell
2.5research.
2.6 (f) Open scientific inquiry and publicly funded research will
be essential to realizing
2.7the promise of stem cell research and to maintain Minnesota's
leadership in biomedicine
2.8and biotechnology. Publicly funded stem cell research, conducted
under established
2.9standards of open scientific exchange, peer review, and public
oversight, offers the
2.10most efficient and responsible means of fulfilling the promise of
stem cells to provide
2.11regenerative medical therapies.
2.12 (g) Stem cell research, including the use of embryonic stem
cells for medical
2.13research, raises significant ethical and policy concerns and,
while not unique, the ethical
2.14and policy concerns associated with stem cell research must be
carefully considered.
2.15 (h) Public policy on stem cell research must balance ethical
and medical
2.16considerations. The policy must be based on an understanding of
the science associated
2.17with stem cell research and grounded in a thorough consideration
of the ethical concerns
2.18regarding this research. Public policy on stem cell research must
be carefully crafted to
2.19ensure that researchers have the tools necessary to fulfill the
promise of stem cell research.

2.20 Sec. 3. [145.427] STATE POLICY FOR STEM CELL RESEARCH.
2.21 Subdivision 1. Research use permitted. The policy of the
state of Minnesota is
2.22that research involving the derivation and use of human embryonic
stem cells, human
2.23embryonic germ cells, and human adult stem cells from any source,
including somatic
2.24cell nuclear transplantation, shall be permitted and that full
consideration of the ethical
2.25and medical implications of this research be given. Research
involving the derivation and
2.26use of human embryonic stem cells, human embryonic germ cells,
and human adult stem
2.27cells, including somatic cell nuclear transplantation, shall be
reviewed by an approved
2.28institutional review board.
2.29 Subd. 2. Informed consent. A physician, surgeon, or other
health care provider
2.30who is treating a patient for infertility shall provide the
patient with timely, relevant, and
2.31appropriate information sufficient to allow the patient to make
an informed and voluntary
2.32choice regarding the disposition of any human embryos remaining
following the fertility
2.33treatment. Any patient to whom information is provided under this
subdivision shall
2.34be presented with the options of storing any unused embryos,
donating the embryos
2.35to another individual, discarding the embryos, or donating the
remaining embryos for
3.1research. Any patient who elects to donate embryos remaining after
fertility treatments
3.2for research shall provide written consent to that donation.
3.3 Subd. 3. Prohibiting sale of fetal tissue. (a) A person may
not knowingly, for
3.4valuable consideration, purchase, sell, or otherwise transfer or
obtain, or promote the
3.5sale or transfer of, embryonic or cadaveric fetal tissue for
research purposes. However,
3.6embryonic or cadaveric fetal tissue may be donated for research
purposes under this
3.7section. For purposes of this subdivision, "valuable
consideration" means financial gain or
3.8advantage, but does not include reasonable payment for the
removal, processing, disposal,
3.9preservation, quality control, storage, transplantation, or
implantation of embryonic or
3.10cadaveric fetal tissue.
3.11 (b) Violation of this subdivision is a gross misdemeanor.

3.12 Sec. 4. APPROPRIATION.
3.13 $....... in fiscal year 2008 is appropriated from the general
fund to the Board of
3.14Regents of the University of Minnesota for the purposes of
sections 1 to 3.

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