This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, March 10, 2009 - The day after President Barack Obama lifted the ban on using federal money for embryonic stem-cell research, Missouri Right to Life president Pam Fichter was working the halls of the Missouri Capitol on behalf of a measure that backers say could prevent the trickle-down use of state money.
Obama's action, Fichter said, "will energize the pro-life commitment'' to curb the potential influence in Missouri. "This is a decision that is going to open the federal taxpayer's purse to fund life-destroying research."
The president's executive order, announced Monday, is lauded by such prominent Missouri research institutions as Washington University in St. Louis and Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City.
"With our very well-respected institutions, (Obama's order) bodes well for Missouri's future in research,'' said state Sen. Joan Bray, D-University City. "We could become one of the premier states in the country when it comes to research innovations and discoveries."
Several supporters said it was a sign of Obama's commitment to keep politics out of science.
But Fichter and other opponents of embryonic stem-cell research say that, if anything, Obama's order is adding more political fuel to their arguments that swift state counter-action action needs to be taken. They contend that politics - or, rather, assuaging the president's political supporters in the abortion-rights movement - was Obama's chief motivation.
A key component in the critics' state arsenal is Senate Joint Resolution 17. Sponsored by state Sen. Jim Lembke, R-Lemay, the resolution would make it illegal "to expend, pay or grant any public funds for abortion services, human cloning or prohibited human research."
If Lembke's resolution is approved by the Senate and House, it would go directly onto the November 2010 ballot as a proposed constitutional amendment. No approval of the governor is required.
The resolution is patterned after the initiative-petition ballot effort of the Missouri Roundtable for Life, an anti-abortion group that opposes embryonic stem-cell research and a related procedure called somatic cell nuclear transfer, or commonly known as SCNT.
Under SCNT, the nucleus of an unfertilized human egg is replaced with the nucleus of another cell. The resulting stem cells are then harvested for research. Critics contend the process destroys an embryo; proponents note that no sperm is involved.
The Roundtable has been embroiled in court with Secretary of State Robin Carnahan over her office's ballot wording of the group's proposal to bar the use of public funds. Lembke's measure uses the Roundtable's preferred wording and is seen by allies as an alternative way to get the same proposal on the 2010 ballot.
Fichter noted that if the resolution is approved by both chambers, "it bypasses the secretary of state'' and would go on the ballot without any unwanted changes in the wording.
Abortion opponents are targeting the November 2010 ballot - the same ballot that could include Carnahan as the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate.
In any case, Roundtable executive director Todd Jones said that Obama's executive order "heightens our sense of urgency'' about pressing passage of SJR 17, because of the group's belief that there will be a trickle-down effect.
"Once the federal dollars start flowing, we'll have people trying to tap into state tax dollars" for embryonic stem-cell research, Jones said.
He and Lembke emphasized that their proposal would bar only the use of state money, not federal or private dollars. But critics, notably the Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures, disagree.
The coalition cites the wording of Lembke's resolution, notably its use of "public money.''
"It's our fear that the resolution would redefine public funds to include federal funds," said Jim Goodwin, the coalition's communications director. The group has circulated its concerns to tens of thousands of like-minded Missourians.
Coalition executive director Allen Todd said in a statement that either SJR 17 or the Roundtable's initiative-petition proposal "could have the same dire effect on Missourians - repealing our access to lifesaving cures and therapies."
The coalition contends that the real target of abortion opponents is Amendment 2, the constitutional amendment that protects all federally approved forms of stem-cell research - including embryonic stem-cell research and SCNT.
Amendment 2 was narrowly approved by Missouri voters in November 2006. The coalition and its allies, including members of the Stowers family, spent more than $30 million on the pro-amendment campaign.
The amendment also specifically bans cloning, or the implantation of any embryo created by SCNT. But the two sides disagree on the definition of cloning.
Cloning, said the Roundtable's Jones, includes "embryonic stem cell research and SCNT. It's the same thing."
Amendment 2 also became a flash point in the final weeks of the 2006 U.S. Senate contest. The incumbent Republican, Jim Talent - who had announced his opposition to Amendment 2 months earlier - ran a TV ad explaining his views.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Senate candidate, Claire McCaskill, brought in actor Michael J. Fox - who suffers from Parkinson's disease and is an outspoken supporter of embryonic stem-cell research, which some researchers say could eventually offer a cure.
More than two years later, opponents of embryonic stem-cell research and Amendment 2 say their views haven't changed. Fichter cited the advancements in research using adult stem-cells as evidence that embryonic stem-cell research is "not necessary and not productive.''
"They are persistent," Bray said, referring to the critics. "Thank goodness they've been foiled so far."
Lembke plans on pressing in a few weeks for Senate action on his resolution.
Obama's executive order, Lembke said, will highlight his chief argument. "The actions that are happening on the national level won't affect us if we have 'security' in our constitution,'' the senator said. "We want to ensure that there's no ambiguity in Missouri and the people's desire that there's no public money involved in this research."
