The Washington State Legislature is currently considering a bill that would permit embryonic stem cell research in Washington. Passionate debate is a good thing, but a Washington State Senator crossed the line when he compared stem cell research to the Holocaust:
Sen. Alex Deccio, R-Yakima, a veteran of World War II, said that one of the most vivid memories he had was of visiting the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp after the war.
"To see those bodies stacked ... they were embryos at one point," he said. "But somebody decided those people should be done away with. That was the public policy in Germany. Genocide in Africa, those were embryos at some point. Public policy said those people should be destroyed."
As if that were not enough, the
federal newspeak has definitely filtered down to the state level:
"We're talking about the same thing," he said. "There's a relationship here. We've developed a culture of death in this world today."
I wholeheartedly agree Senator; its unfortunate your party has played such a vital role in that culture.
A Jewish member of the Senate saw fit to respond:
Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle, took exception to the reference to the Holocaust.
"This is a bill about the use of science and the application by law of ethical rules to science," said Kline, who is Jewish. "This is a far cry from the Holocaust and I personally have a difficult time accepting any kind of political rhetoric that attempts to draw moral equivalency between science on one hand and murder of millions of people on the other."
This is the second time a Washington State legislator has compared this bill to the Holocaust. Last month, a Republican state representative did this and was roundly rebuked by local Jewish leaders.
The bill does not allow embryos to be created for research; it only allows embryos remaining from the process of in vitro fertilization to be used and they must be donated; no compensation is allowed to be given.
The Democrats have a slim majority in the Senate (26-23). Earlier this week, the Senate considered legislation that would have granted civil rights protection regardless of sexual orientation. This was viewed by the Rapture Right as an assault on traditional marraige. Ultimately, the bill was struck down after gaining the support two Democrats (Tim Sheldon-Shelton and Jim Hargrove-Hoquiam). Hargrove had "moral problems" with the legislation. Hargrove has also voted against giving the people of the state the right to vote on lowering the threshold of votes required for public school maintenance and operation levy approval. That's a complete different issue, but Hargrove is not impressing me this legislative session. His term expires in 2009, so he has some time to make it up to me. If any Democrats are going to put up a stink about this stem cell research bill, it will be Sheldon and Hargrove.