Gov. Jim Doyle, along with nine other governors, sent a letter to the U.S. Senate Wednesday, urging them to vote to alleviate President Bush's limitations on embryonic stem cell research.
Doyle and the other governors said in the letter that Bush is out of touch on this issue and, as a consequence, thousands of people suffer every day from diseases that could be cured if restrictions were lifted.
The governors who sent the letter, however, are pushing for research advancement.
The Senate answered later in the day, voting 63-34 on a bill in favor of advancing stem cell technology by easing restrictions on federally funded research.
The issue has been ongoing in Congress. In January, the U.S. House passed a companion bill to this bill with nearly identical legislation, but the President vetoed it.
This time around, the Senate failed to obtain the two-thirds majority required to override a presidential veto. Bush can, and is expected to, veto the new bill passed Wednesday.
In the letter, the governors said, ""Embryonic stem cell research holds the potential to cure some of the oldest and deadliest diseases—from Parkinson's to Alzheimer's to Multiple Sclerosis.""
Furthermore, Doyle said restrictions brought on by Bush's policy have delayed research for over five years.
Doyle was integral in launching a multi-hundred million-dollar strategy to develop stem cell research and biotechnology in Wisconsin. The main attraction of this effort is the Institute for Discovery, which will feature public and private research facilities. The institute is set to break ground on the UW-Madison campus next year.
WiCell Research Institute, a Wisconsin-based institute that has been around since 2000 and is home to the National Stem Cell Bank, supports research and public education on human embryonic stem cells.
Andy Cohn, spokesperson for WiCell, said Doyle has been at the forefront of research since the beginning. Cohn said he is pleased with the governor's actions and said this research ""will lead to treatments and cures for some of the worlds most devastating diseases.""
In addition, Cohn said the national bill could open up economic opportunities for Wisconsin in the stem cell research field.
However, some Wisconsin organizations still maintain that certain restrictions should remain.
Mark Tuttle, communications director of Pro-Life Wisconsin, said he is disappointed with the governor's choices.
Tuttle said embryonic stem research is destructive of human life and insists that other avenues of research that do not sacrifice human life in the process should be looked into by the state.
