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Yes to stem cell research
03/11/2004 07:34 - (SA)
Los Angeles - Californians voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to become the first US state to fund controversial embryonic stem cell research that was effectively banned by President George W Bush, US media reported.
The emotionally- and politically-charged Proposition 71, which allows nearly three billion dollars to be put aside for stem cell research over 10 years, passed by 69 percent against 31 percent opposition, CNN reported.
Supporters of the measure say the decision could help find cures to diseases including cancer, Aids, spinal cord injuries, Parkinson's Disease and Alzheimer's Disease more quickly than had been expected.
They also claim that the measure will make California, already the United States' leading hub for biotech industries, a world hub of stem cell research too.
Bush in 2001 effectively banned further federal funding for the science, citing the killing of human embryos that occurs in the process.
The California measure is seen as a way of circumventing federal blocks to embryonic stem cell research and was backed by scientists, parents and Hollywood stars including Brad Pitt, the late Christopher Reeve and Michael J Fox.
The state's movie-star governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, broke ranks with his Republican party and backed the proposition on the issue on which Bush and Democratic presidential opponent John Kerry have been diametrically opposed.
In addition to the destruction of embryos, opponents of the law, including some top bioethicists, said Proposition 71 was a waste of money that cash-strapped California could not afford to fritter away on scientific hopes that are, as yet, totally unproven.
- AFP
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