By Julie Godfrey Miller
Catholic Herald
Wisconsin Right to Life director discusses pro-life issues
SUPERIOR -- There are many issues in the news that are of particular interest to the pro-life movement in Wisconsin: the nomination of John G. Roberts to the U.S. Supreme Court, abortion, assisted suicide, cloning, stem-cell research and others.
Barbara L. Lyons, executive director of Wisconsin Right to Life, visited the Catholic Herald offices Aug. 24 to discuss some of these issues. She also talked with Bishop Raphael M. Fliss during her visit to Superior.
Lyons said one of the important issues right now is the nomination of Roberts. "While we're not supporting or opposing him, we're optimistic that he will be the person that will interpret the law, rather than make new law from the bench. Obviously no one knows how he will vote once he is confirmed, and people believe he will be confirmed. There will be two cases of interest to the pro-life movement before him virtually immediately."
She said one is a New Hampshire law that would require parental notification before a minor has an abortion. The other is Gonzales v. Oregon, where the Supreme Court will decide whether federally controlled substances can be used to carry out assisted suicide.
Lyons said another case that is on its way there, but that has not yet been accepted by the court, is the partial-birth abortion ban, which was passed by Congress and signed by the president in 2003.
"The other thing of interest is that the state Senate will likely take up three pieces of legislation this fall," Lyons said.
One is the Conscience Protection Act (AB 207), which has already passed the Assembly. "It would expand conscience rights for medical professionals and institutions on a variety of different death-dealing acts. So we're optimistic that the Senate will pass the bill. Of course, we believe the governor will veto it as he did last session," Lyons said.
Another is a total ban on human cloning for all uses (AB 499 and SB 243). "It has passed the Assembly and is in good shape going to the Senate," Lyons said. The ban would include both reproductive cloning for implantation in a woman's body, and therapeutic cloning. "Many people like to split the two and say we don't like the first but we want to allow the second, but the creation of the clone is the same in either case. It is just the purpose for which it's used that is different. We're very confident that the researchers really feel they need cloning to carry forward their embryonic stem-cell research. They talk a lot about the frozen embryos and people seem to buy that sort of, I would say, misplaced logic, that if the embryo is going to be destroyed, why not use it for some good."
Lyons said the truth is there are not many frozen embryos available for research and there is a lot of competition for them. There is also red-tape involved, as consent of the parents is needed. In addition, Lyons said, many of the embryos are not viable after they are thawed and would not be useful to the researchers.
"So, its really clear that where they want to go is to cloning because that would give them a virtually limitless supply of embryos," she said.
"The ban on human cloning would be very protective for our state. It would apply to both public and private entities and we're relatively confident the Senate will follow the Assembly's lead and pass it and probably the governor will veto it."
Lyons said there is no current law that prohibits cloning.
"The third piece of legislation is the Unborn Pain Awareness Act (SB 138). This would require that if a woman is 20 weeks pregnant or more that she be told that her unborn child will experience excruciating pain from the abortion procedure. There is abundant scientific
evidence that the (unborn) child is so sensitive to pain, even more so than a child that has already been born ... We feel, again, that this would be a good piece of legislation to inform women that there is a little baby that is going to feel a lot of pain if she goes through with this decision," Lyons said. This bill has not passed either the Senate or Assembly.
The fourth piece of legislation, AB 270, is going through without controversy, Lyons said. "It is a wonderful piece of legislation that would essentially inform pregnant women that they can donate cord blood which (is) rich in stem cells, for research purposes. And it's just thrown away, otherwise. There's no risk to the mother, no risk to the baby. Cord blood is a wonderful resource for stem cells and there have been actual treatments of individuals using cord blood stem cells that have been very beneficial. At a public hearing a few weeks ago, there was a family there with a young child who had been helped by stem cells from cord blood. And it was so exciting to see that here's a real live child who has had progress in treating his disease just because the cord blood cells were available."
Lyons also discussed the merits of embryonic stem cells versus those obtained from adults. She said, "People are accepting the false promises with embryonic stem cells. They think that a cure is there tomorrow," but it is a long way off.
She also said that embryonic stem cells present significant problems. These cells grow and grow, she said, and are not being used because if they were put inside a person they would grow into a tumor.
Adult cells, she said, are the promise of the future and right now. There are some 60 diseases and conditions that have already been successfully treated with adult stem cells. She said, "They don't like to talk about cure. No one is going that far, but they have improved the condition of many people with these 60 diseases using adult stem cells."
People worry about the state losing money if stem cell research is banned.
Lyons said, "Economics is not the key issue here. The ethics and the morality here have to be first and foremost. ... The other thing that no one tells you is that stem cell is only one kind of research. There is all kinds of research being done for Parkinson's and diabetes that have nothing to do with stem cells at all. Its very ethical, again, because no one has to die for the results to be achieved."
Lyons sees hope for the future. "We're really excited about the young people. ... These young people are a huge population bulge, 60 million plus, and they really are going against things that they've seen from their parents and their grandparents. They want to be more spiritual. They want to find meaning in life. They want to make a difference in the world. (They want) stable marriage and family. They don't want their children to be from broken homes or have a latchkey existence," she said.
"They are also very pro-life, from all ethnic and socioeconomic groups. ... We're very excited about the future of the pro-life movement, which will be in their hands," Lyons said, and added that there has been an influx of young people into Wisconsin Right to Life and the organization has held youth training camps -- three days of total immersion in pro-life information. Wisconsin Right to Life has also established a grant program so young people can get funding to help them start a pro-life group on a college campus, she said.
"I think this is indicative -- and its interesting because this philosophical bent of young people is coming from Harvard University and Stanford University, not pro-life sources. Researchers all over the place are coming up with this profile," Lyons said.
Editor's note: The state Senate was to begin debate on AB 207, AB 499, SB 138 and AB 270 Sept. 27.
© Superior Catholic Herald, 2005