I've been opposed to President Bush's stem cell policy -- a colossal act of hypocrisy masquerading as a Solomonic compromise -- since it was announced in the summer of 2001, then buried in the news avalanche of 9/11. The 2004 election has brought this issue back with a vengeance -- particularly here in California, where there's a $3 billion proposition on the ballot to set up a gigantic state-based stem cell research program.
I'd assumed I'd be voting for Prop 71, and I haven't made up my mind one way or another yet, but I'm starting to pay attention to the growing chorus of smart people who are raising questions about the wisdom of the measure: in particular, its size, absence of safeguards and potential for conflict of interest.
Dan Gillmor, here, and Mitch Kapor, here, offer some of the arguments. Here's an assessment by the Center for Genetics and Society. It's easy to simply jerk one's knee on an issue like this, and the urge to oppose the president's intellectually short-sighted and morally indefensible policy is overwhelming. But "think before you vote" remains good advice.
|
|
