More than 100 patient groups, medical organizations and interfaith and civic organizations have joined the coalition organized to support a YES vote on the Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative, the ballot measure designed to protect stem cell research and patient access to stem cell treatments in Missouri.
To date, nearly 60,000 Missouri citizens – including more than 2,000 medical doctors and other health care professionals – have also joined as members of the Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures, making it the largest coalition of its kind ever formed to support a ballot initiative in the state.
Organizational members of the Coalition include medical and patient advocacy groups such as Mound City Medical Forum, Missouri State Medical Association, St. Louis Metropolitan Medical Society, American Diabetes Association, Sickle Cell Disease Association-Kansas City Chapter, Washington University in St. Louis, Washington University School of Medicine Lance Armstrong Foundation, Christopher Reeve Foundation, National Children’s Leukemia Foundation, National Ovarian Cancer Coalition, National Parkinson Foundation and Society for Women’s Health Research.
The Coalition also is supported by interfaith and civic organizations such as Metropolitan St. Louis Clergy Coalition, Concerned Clergy Coalition of Kansas City, Kansas City Missouri Baptist Ministers Union, Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, St. Louis Rabbinical Association, National Council of Jewish Women, Semper Fi for Life Foundation, Missouri Biotechnology Association, Ethical Action Committee of the St. Louis Ethical Society and Civic Council of Greater Kansas City.
The American also strongly supports the measure.
Many of the individual citizens who have become members of the Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures are patients and people with family members who suffer from diseases and injuries that could potentially benefit from stem cell research. Recent medical research shows that stem cells could provide cures for many different diseases and injuries that affect hundreds of thousands of Missouri children and adults, such as diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, ALS, multiple sclerosis, cancer, heart disease, sickle cell disease and spinal cord injury.
The Coalition also has an impressive list of Honorary Co-Chairs, including: former U.S. Senators John Danforth and Tom Eagleton and Dr. Michael DeBaun, director of the Sickle Cell Medical Treatment and Education Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.
The Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative was developed because some Missouri politicians have repeatedly tried to pass legislation that would impose a state ban on some of the most promising forms of stem cell research and cures. The Initiative, proposed for the November state ballot, will prevent any such bans and ensure that all stem cell research and cures allowed under federal law will continue to be allowed in Missouri. It also establishes clear ethical boundaries and safety guidelines for stem cell research conducted in Missouri, including a ban on any attempt to clone a human being.