Missouri's Secretary of State last week gave the go ahead for signature gathering to proponents of a citizen's initiative supporting stem cell research. The leadership of the Catholic Church in Missouri and an Arizona based Christian fundamentalist legal group, the Alliance Defense Fund, are tag teaming in an effort to block the initiative from making it to the November 2006 ballot.
THE INITIATIVE AND SUPPORTERS
The initiative is supported by The Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures. You can view their membership here; it includes such groups as the American Diabetes Association, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, the Lance Armstrong Foundation, Cornell University, Rutgers University, Stanford University, the American Jewish Congress, the National Council of Jewish Women, the Metropolitan St. Louis Clergy Council, and the City Council of Kansas City, MO. Proponents claim that the initiative will protect the citizens of Missouri:
Recently, some politicians in Jefferson City have tried to pass state laws that would ban and criminalize some types of stem cell research in Missouri - and actually prohibit Missouri patients from having access to future stem cell cures. The Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative was developed to prevent such unfair bans. The Initiative clearly protects the right of Missouri patients to have their diseases and injuries treated with any stem cell cures that are allowed by federal law and available to other Americans. It ensures that Missouri medical institutions can provide and help find new stem cell cures. It creates clear ethical and safety guidelines for stem cell research conducted in Missouri. And, it resolves concerns about human cloning by strictly banning human reproductive cloning to create babies.
THE OPPOSITION
Two groups have positioned themselves in opposition to the initiative.
The Alliance Defense Fund
People for the American Way describe the Alliance Defense Fund:
# ADF is a Christian legal firm established by more than 30 Christian ministries to help defend "family values" and work against the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union).
# ADF defines itself by its ability to strategize and coordinate with lawyers all over the United States. Lawyers who sign up for their "Blackstone Legal Institute" are expected to donate 450 pro bono hours over a three year period.
# ADF has coordinated over 400 lawyers, over 125 right-wing organizations, and many conservative ministries on behalf of ADF-defined Christian legal issues.
# ADF has been involved with 16 "victories" before the Supreme Court, including such high profile cases as Boy Scouts of America v. Dale and Schenck v. Pro-Choice Network. ADF has had success in anti-gay cases all over the US, from Alaska to Massachusetts.
# ADF has linked over 125 groups to create a combined effort to fight issues and on behalf of their views. ADF has brought together attorneys and allied legal groups to help develop a national strategy on controversial social issues, for example it has worked to develop a national strategy to "protect marriage" across the United States after Vermont's decision to legalize civil unions for gays and lesbians.
# In addition to organizing lawyers and ministries, ADF also trains and recruits and provides grants to support legal cases as well as pro-bono assistance.
# ADF also defends the right of Christians to "share the gospel" in workplaces and public schools, claiming that any efforts to curb proselytizing at work and school are anti-Christian.
This group is clearly the legal arm of a variety of Christian fundamentalist extremists attempting to exert influence over American social policy. Now they are working to silence the voices of Missouri voters by keeping the stem cell initiative off the ballot:
A group opposed to research on early human stem cells has sued to block the initiative petition drive intended to guarantee that such research remains legal in Missouri.
The suit, which was filed Wednesday in Jefferson City, asks the court to halt the gathering of signatures and keep the measure off the November 2006 ballot.
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The case was filed on behalf of five individuals and Missourians Against Human Cloning, an organization created Nov. 17 by Larry Weber, executive director of the Missouri Catholic Conference.
The ballot measure was proposed last month by a group called the Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures. It would amend the Missouri Constitution to permit any stem-cell research allowed by federal law. This would include laboratory techniques for cloning cells to treat disease, but would prohibit attempts to clone a fully developed human baby.
The lawsuit said the ballot language -- written by Secretary of State Robin Carnahan and approved by Attorney General Jay Nixon -- should be thrown out because it is unfair and deceptive about the measure's true effect.
Now on to our next player....
The Missouri Catholic Church
Not content to be part of the coalition represented by the Alliance Defense Fund, the church has taken an official position and used it's access to Catholics to rail against the initiative during church services:
The battle over embryonic stem cell research moved into the pews Sunday, as Roman Catholic priests across Missouri urged churchgoers to oppose a petition seeking a constitutional amendment that would protect the controversial work.
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Missouri's Catholic dioceses oppose it, and urged their priests statewide to begin a campaign Sunday aimed at keeping Catholics from signing the petition.
At St. Peter Catholic Church, across the street from the state Capitol, the Rev. James Smith quoted Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels and compared the cultivation of human embryos for research to the gruesome experiments performed on concentration camp occupants during World War II.
"The similarities of the arguments behind the destruction of life by the Nazis and the use of human embryos (for stem cell research) are scary," he told hundreds of worshippers at a morning Mass. "There are real human lives that need our support and protection."
Whoa! Wonder how the groups representing the Jewish community who have thrown their support behind the initiative view Rev. Smith's comparison of their support to sick Nazi "medical" research.
An unholy alliance
It's clear (at least to me) that the Catholic Church is moving to the same brand of extremism as the fundmentalist Christian mega churches that the Alliance Defense Fund normally represent. Let them have their day in court, that's reasonable. But also let it be widely known that these two groups are actively working to subvert democracy, through the use of tax exempt entities railing for political action and legal maneuvers to deny voters the chance to have their voices heard.
When will the IRS send the Missouri Catholic Church a nice letter?