Shafer Leads Senate Republican Push For Non-Embryo Stem Cell Research 

ATLANTA, GA (fEB. 23, 2006) Joined by 31 cosponsors, a Republican state senator from Duluth introduced a bill Thursday designed to foster stem cell research in Georgia and to avoid the controversy such efforts arouse. 

   The bill by Sen. David Shafer would encourage research with stem cells from postnatal tissue – umbilical cords, the placenta and amniotic fluid.

   "Stem cell research efforts have been hampered by the controversy over embryonic stem cells," Shafer said. "But stem cells are not found only in embryos. Umbilical cord blood is rich in stem cells which can be used for research without destroying any embryos." 

   "Stem cell research using stem cells from cord blood has already resulted in treatments for a wide range of diseases," Shafer said. "But tragically, after most births, the umbilical cord is thrown away as medical waste." 

   Shafer's bill, called "Delivering the Cure Act of 2006," creates the Georgia Commission for the Newborn Umbilical Cord Blood Initiative and directs it to create a newborn cord blood bank in partnership with one or more public colleges or universities. 

   It also provides that every woman giving birth in Georgia will be told of the initiative and given the opportunity to donate the newborn baby's umbilical cord blood. 

   "The goal is universal collection for both scientific research and medical treatment," Shafer said. "We want Georgia to be the Red Cross of umbilical cord blood banking." 

   Shafer's bill bans human cloning.

   "I want Georgia to be a center of ethical scientific research," Shafer said. "I believe this cord blood bank will encourage scientific research and discovery, without crossing lines that our society may ultimately regret crossing." 

   Shafer is Chairman of the Senate Science and Technology Committee.

Reprinted from www.insideradvantage.com