Mo. Groups Propose Stem Cell Amendment

The stem-cell issue keeps bouncing...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - A coalition of researchers and patients groups proposed a constitutional amendment Tuesday to protect stem cell research in Missouri, where anti-abortion activists have tried to outlaw a particular type of research they say amounts to the taking of a human life.

Supporters of the amendment must gather at least 139,181 petition signatures from voters to get the measure on the November 2006 ballot. Anti-abortion groups want to "criminalize some of the most promising types of stem cell research," coalition chairman Donn Rubin said.

The coalition claimed its proposal was the first in the nation to protect patients' rights to be treated with any eventual stem cell-related cures. It would specify that stem cell research, therapies and cures allowed under federal law also are permitted in Missouri.

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