OK Senate Saves the Day!

Thank you, Oklahoma State Senate, for sustaining Gov. Henry's veto! Now I do not have to be embarrassed to say that I am from Oklahoma!

The Chambers of Commerce of both Oklahoma City and Tulsa lobbied for the veto, as well as the OK Chapter of NMSS and the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation.

I found out about this legislation last weekend at an MS seminar in OKC, hosted by the manufacturers of Copaxone. The speaker is the only listed MS specialist in OK, Dr. Gabriel Pardo, an ophtho-neurologist (see a video of him here). I'll write more about the seminar in a later post. Dr. Pardo urged all of us to contact our legislators to make sure this did not pass. So, it's his fault that my blood pressure went on a roller-coaster ride today!

I probably should get some of the work for which I'm paid done.

Peace,
Kelley

Letter to Oklahoma Legislators

I am beside myself about some legislation here in the state of Oklahoma. It is a ban on all embryonic stem cell research that makes it a criminal offense. Thankfully, the Governor vetoed the bill yesterday. However, the legislature is poised to try to override the veto. Bastards! (Yes, I equate them to the bastards who raised my Copaxone copay!)

Here is a letter I sent to my state senator and representative (and surprisingly, there was no cursing!):

Dear Senator/Represenatative,
I wish to encourage you to sustain Governor Henry’s veto of HB 1326 that makes embryonic stem cell research in Oklahoma a criminal offense. As a constituent in your district living with multiple sclerosis, stem cell research is critical in finding a cure to MS and other debilitating diseases such as Altzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, juvenile diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and countless others.

The interpretation of this bill by many in the legislature has assumed inaccurate facts. There will be no use of stem cells from aborted fetuses. The National Institute of Health (NIH) has drawn the line saying the only stem cells used will be from discarded blastocysts left over from in-vitro fertilization treatments. These are cells developed in a petri dish and not implanted in a uterus. These cells cannot live unless implanted and will be discarded or frozen indefinitely at the expense of the donor.

Therefore, if these cells are to become medical waste, why not use them to help find a cure or treatment for thousands of Oklahomans with debilitating diseases?

The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation supports language that would ban the use of tissues obtained from abortions, would ban the fertilization of a human egg solely for research purposes, and would ban so-called reproductive cloning (creating an identical clone of an individual). What OMRF believes should be permissible, but which this bill criminalizes, is to use embryonic cells created by in vitro fertilization.

If you believe that “no cures have ever come from embryonic stem cells,” you have been misled. Human embryonic stem cells were only discovered a little over ten years ago, which is far too short a time for a new treatment or cure to be developed.

This bill, if it becomes law, would also have severe economic impact on Oklahoma. It will make recruiting scientists more difficult, and it will make Oklahoma unattractive for biotechnology companies and investors.

If you override Governor Henry’s veto, this law would be the most far-reaching, restrictive, and in my view backward-looking in the country. I urge you to sustain the veto.

Respectfully,

Kelley F
My Address
OK
My Phone

I have never been what one could call a political activist, but this just really got under my skin. If you live in the state of Oklahoma and think this bill is ridiculous, please contact your legislators.

Yay, democracy!

Peace,
Kelley

P.S. Bad news. Hopefully the Senate will listen.