You may remember James Kelly from an earlier post I did about him. James is a paraplegic and an advocate for ethical and proven stem cell research. He has a piece in National Review Online about Amendment 2. Here’s an excerpt:

“The supposed purpose of Amendment 2 is to promote and protect “life saving” treatments and cures. Rather than supporting this contention, overwhelming scientific evidence clearly reveals the reverse — that diverting colossal resources for decades to unravel complex problems linked to embryonic stem cells and human cloning will considerably delay research into real causes for medical hope.

Virtually everything the people of Missouri have been told about embryonic stem-cells and human cloning in support of Amendment 2 has been distortions or lies. A real ban on human cloning would read like this: “It is illegal in the state of Missouri to transfer human genetic material from any cell other than sperm into an egg for the purpose of creating an embryo.

Instead, Amendment 2 confuses the public by proclaiming to ban what it actually sanctions — what it hopes to turn into a constitutional right. This by itself should warn the public that something is badly amiss.

Amendment 2, if passed, will create a safe harbor for human cloning in America’s Heartland. More than that, it will insure that the public pays for both the creation and destruction of human embryos produced by cloning for the sake of research careers, biotech patents, industry growth, and pharmaceutical profits — all at the expense of practical research that could lead to affordable cures.”