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FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
REVERSAL ON STEM CELLS HIGHLIGHTS
POLITICAL INCONSISTENCIES:
While Legislators Agree not to Federally Fund Abortions in Order to get Consensus on Health Care, NIH Allows Taxpayer Dollars to Fund
Destruction of Embryos
WHAT:

Both the founder and the public policy director of the Joni and Friends Christian Institute on Disability are available for interviews regarding the recent release of new lines of embryonic stem cells to be destroyed for research.

This action is counter to recent amendments to the health care reform bills up for discussion, in that taxpayer dollars will not be used to fund abortions – an acknowledgment that a majority of taxpayers believe abortion is the destruction of life and the bills would not pass otherwise.

However, the NIH ruled yesterday that new lines of embryonic stem cells may now be used for research funded by the government. The same taxpayers who believe that abortion is destruction of life will now be footing the bill for destruction of life in embryonic form – something equally as distasteful to them. They believe this destruction of life is not only wrong but unnecessary as the best hope for real cures for more than 100 diseases and spinal cord injuries lies in adult stem cell research. Recent advances include the development of induced pluripotent stem cells, which are adult stem cells that act like embryonic ones in their adaptability, but have none of the negative side effects such as tumors and other results seen in laboratory animals.

WHO:
Spokespeople include:

Joni Eareckson Tada

Author, disability advocate and founder of Joni and Friends International Disability Center. Injured in a diving accident in 1967, Tada is one of the longest living quadriplegics on record.

Dr. Kathy McReynolds

Ph.D. bio-ethicist and professor at Biola University in southern California. Dr. McReynolds earned her Ph.D. in ethics at USC, specializing in ethical issues and genetic enhancement research. She teaches courses at Biola in theology, philosophy and bioethics. She is an active member of the ethics committee at Children’s Hospital in Orange County and has recently been invited to become a member of the ethics committee at UCI Medical Center.
WHEN:

By appointment

WHERE:

Via phone and in-studio from Los Angeles

DETAILS:

To request an interview, please contact Melany Ethridge at [email protected] or 972.267.1111.

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