Man with MS urges Bush to veto embryonic stem-cell bill

Washington D.C., May 29, 2005 / 22:00 pm

A man in an advanced stage of Multiple Sclerosis wrote a letter to President George W. Bush, urging him to veto legislation that supports embryonic stem-cell research.

Last week, legislators voted in favor of a bill that would allow federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research, which requires the destruction of the human embryo. Bush announced his intention to veto the bill.

“I want to support your vow to veto any legislation supporting embryonic stem-cell research,” said Mark Pickup in his letter. Pickup is a Christian advocate for people with disabilities and the founder of HumanLifeMatters.

In his letter, Pickup argued that embryonic stem-cell research “offers the least promise for developing therapies.

“With limited research dollars to develop therapies for diseases and degenerative conditions, it makes little sense to put funding toward areas of least promise and most problematic,” he wrote. Pickup noted that the most promising research derives stem cells from other sources, such as adult bone marrow and umbilical cord blood.

“Much of the world looks to America for moral guidance and example,” stated Pickup. “Research that takes human life flies in the face of universal human rights and the unalienable right to life.”

Pickup is scheduled to deliver the keynote address to the U.S. National Right to Life Prayer Breakfast in Minneapolis, June 17 at 7:30 a.m. He will speak on the threat of euthanasia and assisted suicide to people with serious degenerative diseases.

For more information, go to www.HumanLifeMatters.com