Senate near stem-cell funding vote

To the editor:

The Journal of the American Medical Association editor, Dr. Catherine DeAngelis, was unaware that the authors of a recent study claiming unborn children feel no pain from abortions until late in a pregnancy were two abortion advocates. Susan J. Lee, one of the authors, is a medical student who previously worked for the abortion-advocacy group NARAL. The other author, Dr. Eleanor Drey, an obstetrician/gynecologist, is the medical director of an abortion center. Was their study biased?

Despite continued success with adult stem-cell research and the news that embryonic stem cells can be obtained without destroying human life, the U.S. Senate is preparing to vote to overturn the president's prohibition against taxpayer funding of the life-destroying research.

Advocates of the destructive research would have us believe the U.S. is falling behind because of the Bush policy. The truth is the U.S. is leading the world in funding for the research, according to the Culture of Life Foundation's June 29 report.

Recently, Scientific American magazine completed an analysis of the status of embryo-destructive research in nine countries and the European Union, discovering that the U.S. far outpaces other countries in funding.

Please write your U.S. senators asking them to vote no on taxpayer funding of embryonic stem-cell research. The public will not be duped into believing legislators are pro-life if they vote yes. Do so right away. The vote will be in early September.

CHRISTINE E. STEPHENS, Cape Girardeau