A rider added to the state budget bill by the Senate Finance Committee on Monday would undermine critical medical research into treatments for serious diseases such as cancer, Parkinson’s disease and diabetes, the head of Texans for the Advancement of Medical Research (TAMR) warned today.
On Tuesday the Senate Finance Committee voted 6-5 to add a rider to the budget bill, authored by committee Chairman Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, that would bar public funds “used in conjunction with or to support research which involves the destruction of a human embryo.”
“The effect of that rider would be to forbid responsible medical research using embryonic stem cells derived from fertilized eggs destined to be discarded by IVF clinics. The rider would also ban embryonic stem cell research allowed by Pres Bush’s executive order at public universities and other institutions in Texas,” said TAMR President Joe Brown.
“This measure would undermine the hope embryonic stem cell research gives to so many families struggling with serious medical conditions,” Brown said. “It would also discourage researchers from locating to Texas and essentially force others already conducting embryonic stem cell research here either to stop or to leave the state.”
Brown noted that the ban could even undermine the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute. Texas voters in November 2007 authorized the institute to issue $3 billion in general obligation bonds over ten years for cancer research and prevention.
“By placing a prohibition on what research can be conducted in state facilities or using state monies, Texas is placing the great potential of the newly formed Cancer Institute in jeopardy,” Brown said. “Research on cancer and other serious diseases depends largely on the biological
understanding of how cells function and where malignancies or mutations occur and why. Researchers have repeatedly said that studying embryonic stem cells is very important to understanding those processes.”
The ban would also send a terrible message about medical research in Texas, Brown said.
“This action does not send the message to the world that Texas is willing to lead the way in research,” he said. ” Whereas healthcare & biomedical research industries are among the very few that are growing, Texas would be branded as a state with an unfriendly political environment for research and development, not a scientific community that is hospitable to cutting-edge research.”
The Senate Finance Committee has not yet voted on the full budget bill.
Texans for Advancement of Medical Research is composed of leading scientists, physicians, ethicists, health groups, and individuals who support biomedical research for the purpose of curing diseases and alleviating suffering.
