Shameful Exploitation

Michael J. Fox is an admirable person, and it is very tragic to lose him to Parkinson's at such a young age, but this ad is equally tragic, in that it offers false hope for an easy cure. Story here, ad here. Diane, Respublica has some background on the related ballot issue in Missouri here.

Using such manipulative ads in a political campaign are a disservice to voters.

And the ad ignores other victims--those embryos whose lives are sacrificed on the pyre of stem cell research.

I am in favor of adult and umbilical cord stem cell research, but in any event the research does go on, just not necessarily with government funding.

Glenn Reynolds the Instapundit posted this yesterday:

GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS: "Using human embryonic stem cells, researchers have cured a Parkinson's-like disease in rats. Unfortunately, the Parkinson's cure causes brain tumors."

I favor research using embryonic stem cells, as I don't think we know enough to say what will work -- and research with embryonic cells might well provide insights that would let us use adult stem cells effectively. But I think it's being oversold as something that promises near-term cures, as alas it doesn't.

Now the ad and Fox come to the Duckworth campaign in Chicago.

It is shameful.

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