By Kelley Weiss
Kansas City, MO – Missouri voters narrowly passed Amendment 2 - a measure that will protect federally approved stem cell research from being criminalized by state lawmakers. But opponents to the amendment say they are not giving up and the fight is just beginning. KCUR's Kelley Weiss reports.
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Opponents to Amendment 2 say they will try to get the measure repealed because it will allow human cloning. Missouri Senator Matt Bartle has tried several times to get laws passed to ban human cloning and restrict the use of embryonic stem cell research. He says the passage of this amendment is energizing opponents to find a way to recall this measure.
Matt Bartle: "The proponents of Amendment 2 have lit a prairie fire in the Pro-Life community."
Bartle says there are two ways opponents can fight this: legally challenging it in the courts or by asking voters to repeal the constitutional amendment by a simple majority vote.
Meanwhile, supporters of the measure say the amendment clearly forbids human cloning. And, Stowers Institute officials say they are recruiting scientists to begin embryonic stem cell research. They say they're eager to put some of their $2 billion dollar endowment towards funding early stem cell research to find cures for a variety of diseases like Parkinson's, diabetes and Alzheimer's.
Funding for health care coverage on KCUR has been provided by the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City.
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