The Stem Cell Hope by Alice Park

Author:Alice Park
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2011-04-19T00:00:00+00:00

Perhaps the only bright light during that time was the emergence of a very important voice in the campaign, just when it was needed most. Ever since her husband had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, Nancy Reagan had come to appreciate the potential of stem cells to expose the mysteries of incurable diseases. Despite her husband’s well-known conservatism and antiabortion position, Nancy had been taking ever bolder steps in support of the science that she increasingly believed could help millions of patients, despite its dependence on embryos. In 2001, she had written a plea to President Bush to support embryonic stem cell studies. Just a few years later, she appealed to Senator Orrin Hatch, another Republican with strong views against abortion, but who favored expanding stem cell research. When Hatch proposed legislation in Congress that would ban reproductive cloning but allow therapeutic cloning in order to generate embryonic stem cells, he was no doubt influenced by Nancy’s personal request. In describing her husband’s slowly deteriorating mind, Nancy wrote, “Because of this, I am determined to do what I can to save other families from this pain. Orrin, there are so many diseases that can be cured, or at least helped, that we can’t turn our back on this.”

But it wasn’t until May 2004, as CuresNow was launching its effort to gather enough signatures to put their stem cell initiative on the ballot, that Nancy took her appeal public. At a fund-raiser for the JDRF at the Beverly Hilton hotel to honor her courageous support of the field, she made her first public statement in support of the science. Walking to the podium in tears to accept her award from Michael J. Fox, who had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 1991 and is a vocal stem cell supporter, Nancy described the pain of watching her beloved husband slip away, and repeated the plea she had made to Hatch. “Ronnie’s long journey has finally taken him to a distant place where I can no longer reach him,” she said. “Science has presented us with a hope called stem cell research, which may provide our scientists with many answers that for so long have been beyond our grasp. . . . We have lost so much time already. I just really can’t bear to lose any more.”

When Reagan died barely a month later, Nancy’s words took on an added poignancy. Two days before his death, California’s stem cell initiative qualified for the ballot in the November election. For the first time, a state would go to the polls to decide whether or not to fund stem cell research.

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