Sen. candidate endorses initiative that includes $1M for stem research

Again in the headlines, let’s fund more failed research…. Over 20 years of failure and the government insists on funding it…. You want results? You want promise? you want cures and real proof, research Adult Stem Cell Research…. Use your own cells, use placentia, cord blood… There is endless promise in these.

LI’s stem cell debate – Newsday.com
Democrat state sen. candidate endorses initiative that includes $1M for stem research in shot at GOP rival

HT’s to the Amherst Times..

Already in the short campaign for a vacated Nassau County state assembly seat, voting records on abortion rights and stem cell research has taken center stage.

Nassau Legis. Craig Johnson (D-Port Washington), a candidate for the seat vacated by Sen. Michael Balboni, lent support yesterday to a new $2 billion bio-tech initiative, which would lend $1 million towards stem cell research.

“Stem cell research takes advantage of the latest medical technology and that will ease the pain and suffering of countless Americans that suffer from ailments like cancer and diabetes,” Johnson told Newsday.

As pro-choice and anti-abortion groups gear up for the 34th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision today and Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s administration pushes the research initiative, the wedge issue takes on more significance.

Maureen O’Connell, the Republican candidate for the 7th District State Senate seat, has said she supports the Roe v. Wade decision, but won’t say if she supports abortion rights.

Johnson, her opponent, has pounded O’Connell on her voting record, labeling the Nassau County Clerk’s anti-abortion views as “right wing.” In a recent radio ad Democrats continued the anti-abortion charges against O’Connell, which she denied in a statement yesterday.

“As a nurse, I began working with stem cells some 20 years ago so, I know from firsthand experience just how important this line of research is,” O’Connell wrote. “This plan doesn’t go far enough. Why wait a year for reform when we should be investing into a cure today.”

Johnson also blasted the Republican-led state senate, who he said previously blocked stem cell research bills. The special election will take place Feb. 6.