McCaskill backs stem-cell proposal

[usregimechange]

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Claire McCaskill on Tuesday pledged support for a proposed ballot initiative that would protect research on early human stem cells in Missouri.

“Never in the history of our great nation has America turned her back on groundbreaking research,” McCaskill, the state auditor, told reporters outside the Stowers Institute for Medical Research.

The founders of the institute, Jim and Virginia Stowers, have contributed more than $4 million to the initiative campaign.

McCaskill’s likely opponent, Republican incumbent Sen. Jim Talent, said later in the day that he had not taken a position on the proposal, which backers are seeking to place on the November ballot.

Talent, though, is co-sponsor of a bill by Sen. Sam Brownback, a Kansas Republican, that would ban human cloning, including embryonic therapeutic cloning that most researchers see as a key to effective early stem-cell study.

McCaskill said Talent’s backing of the Brownback bill provided a clear distinction between the candidates.

“It is a very clear choice, whether you want to be behind hope for lifesaving cures, or whether you want to criminalize research that can change people’s lives and save people’s lives,” she said.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/13704016.htm