New Projects List from Sale of MOHELA Retains Funding for Human Cloning Experiments
March 9, 2007, JEFFERSON CITY, MO – On March 8, 2007, in an effort to revive support for SB 389 which would allow the sale of $350 million in assets of the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority (MOHELA), Gov. Matt Blunt unveiled a new list of projects that he claimed does not include funding for construction of life science labs.
However, despite protests by supporters of SB 389 that the new plan removes funding for the construction of life science labs which could engage in unethical human cloning and embryonic stem cell experiments, the plan retains $15 million in funding for the Missouri Technology Corporation “to attract and retain high-tech companies and commercialize research conducted at universities."
The Missouri Technology Corporation (MTC) is chaired by Donn Rubin, who was the official coalition chairman of the Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures, which spent over $30 million to pass constitutional Amendment 2, adopted by Missouri voters in 2006. Many of the board members of the MTC, as well as their affiliated organizations were heavily involved in support of Amendment 2. Also, the MTC's affiliated organization, the Research Alliance of Missouri (RAM) includes as a member the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City, whose founders, Jim and Virginia Stowers, were major supporters and financiers of Amendment 2. During the campaign on Amendment 2, the Stowers Institute said it would only go forward with its proposed expansion plans in Missouri if Amendment 2 was approved by the voters.
Under the new plan, the MTC would be given $15 million so they could attract and retain high-tech companies that engage in human cloning and embryonic stem cell research that are protected by Amendment 2. As a result the MTC could commercialize drugs or therapies derived from human cloning and embryonic stem cell research occurring at Missouri's universities. The November 6, 2006 report on the sale of MOHELA assets by Liscarnan Solutions, LLC, noted that: "Resources will be made available to the Missouri Technology Corporation for the purpose of promoting economic development in the area of life sciences and research."
“The claim by the MOHELA deal supporters that the new plan includes no life sciences funding is simply not true," said Deacon Larry Weber, Executive Director and General Counsel of the Missouri Catholic Conference. "The new MOHELA plan to be put before the legislature includes funding for human stem cell research, regardless of the claims by the MOHELA deal supporters. The MCC will continue to oppose this devious use of state resources by those who seek to conduct human cloning experiments and research that destroys human life, and calls on the General Assembly to defeat the MOHELA deal and all state funding for unethical human experimentation.” |
