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Amendment Backers Raise $4.4 Million to Protect Stem Cell Research

Posted on: Tuesday, 17 January 2006, 00:00 CST

By Josh Flory, Columbia Daily Tribune, Mo.

Jan. 16--Advocates of a constitutional amendment to protect certain forms of cloning and stem cell research in Missouri had plenty of money to get their message out last year, thanks largely to two donors.

According to campaign finance reports provided to the Missouri Ethics Commission, the Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures raised more than $4.4 million in the last quarter of the year.

By far the largest portion of the money came from a not-for-profit corporation with the same name that gave $3.1 million in cash and in-kind contributions on a single day in October.

Donn Rubin, chairman of the coalition, said that entity previously had been raising money to promote stem cell research and transferred its assets to the campaign committee after organizers decided to pursue a constitutional amendment.

The coalition is supporting a proposed amendment that would protect many forms of stem cell research in Missouri as long as they remain legal under federal law. Specifically, it would protect a procedure called therapeutic cloning, which is used to create embryonic stem cells but has been a target of legislators who want to ban it. The amendment would prohibit scientists from placing a cloned embryo in a human uterus to produce a baby.

The coalition is aiming for a statewide vote in November but has temporarily stopped collecting signatures in the wake of a lawsuit charging that the wording of a petition used to gather signatures is deceptive. A judge is expected to hear arguments in that case this week.

Unlike political candidates, supporters or opponents of a constitutional amendment are able to collect unlimited donations. The coalition's campaign committee, for example, received more than $977,000 from James and Virginia Stowers, and the couple also was identified as the sole source of the $2.9 million in cash given by the not-for-profit corporation on Oct. 11. The in-kind contributions included office supplies, Web content and recordings.

James Stowers is the founder of American Century Investments, a Kansas City mutual fund company, and along with his wife created Kansas City's Stowers Institute for Medical Research. The institute has been heavily involved in efforts to promote the constitutional amendment.

Rubin said the coalition will continue fundraising, and he expects the legal tussle to be resolved soon.

"We expect to be out gathering signatures ... in the near future," he said.

On the opposite side of the debate are groups, including the Missouri Catholic Conference, that oppose all forms of cloning. Larry Weber, executive director of the Catholic Conference, said an organization opposed to the amendment expects to begin raising money soon.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Columbia Daily Tribune, Mo.

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Source: Columbia Daily Tribune

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