A recent story in the Weekly Standard by Fred Barnes about Governor Matt Blunt stated that he (Blunt) supported the pending Missouri initiative to legalize “stem cell” research. Of course, that isn’t accurate. I wrote a letter to the editor about it, which Barnes graciously approved for publication. Here it is:
“Not Always So Blunt
Fred Barnes’s profile of Missouri governor Matt Blunt was intriguing, but Barnes makes a common error when he claims that Blunt supports a planned initiative to “allow stem cell research in Missouri” (“Taking a Blunt Approach,” May 22). Actually, the initiative Blunt supports would create a right in Missouri’s constitution to engage in human cloning for biomedical research (i.e., somatic cell nuclear transfer). SCNT is not a synonym for stem cell research, although proponents of human research cloning like Blunt pretend that it is, for political purposes. To state the matter accurately, Blunt supports creating human embryos asexually for destruction and use in stem cell research, which is why he has gotten in trouble with Missouri’s pro-life community.”
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