I finally got in my letter in response to the Quadriplegic lawyer who filed a complaint against Cures Without Cloning. It was a little harder than other letters I’ve written because they only allow up to 150 words. I’m used to at least 2-300. You can find it at the KC Star’s Unfettered Letters:

This letter is in response to “Group faces ethics complaint; Lawyer says backers of a proposed ballot measure have missed a filing deadline” (9/22, Local).

As a disabled person (I was paralyzed from the chest down in a car accident almost eight years ago), it often frustrates me to see our side portrayed as being “against cures and research” or even sometimes insensitive to those who suffer with disease and disability, especially by other disabled individuals.

A quadriplegic lawyer who filed a complaint against Missouri Cures Without Cloning for “trying to block research that could lead to medical breakthroughs” said, “I see stem cells as the best opportunity for me to walk again.”

Well, so do I! Adult stem cells have helped treat patients with many diseases and disabilities, including spinal cord injury.

If we would focus our time and energy on promoting and perfecting research using these nonembryonic stem cells already treating patients today, they will be our best hope for even greater cures and treatments than these in the future.

Chelsea Zimmerman
Holts Summit, Mo.