While state legislative, research and business leaders debate the ethical and economic implications of an amendment denying tax credits to companies engaging in new lines of embryonic stem cell research, University of Wisconsin scientists are not worrying, pointing to the improbability of its approval.
Authored by State Rep. Steve Kestell, R-Elkhart Lake, the amendment was added to AB 206 by a vote of 59-36 in the state Assembly Tuesday evening. It was passed on to the State Senate for review and, if passed, will be sent to Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle for final approval.
Aimed at improving the state’s business atmosphere, AB 206 would provide tax incentives to corporations engaging in developmental research. However, the amendment would render companies using embryonic stem cells harvested after August 2001 ineligible from receiving these benefits. Research involving stem cells gathered from adults or umbilical cords would still be considered eligible.
While some argue the amendment could have a harmful effect on Wisconsin’s economic and medical development if passed, opponents of embryonic stem cell research point to the opportunities still available using stem cells not derived from embryos.
According to Wisconsin Right to Life Legislative Director Susan Armacost, “killing human beings” is not necessary to medical progress. Armacost said most successes in stem cell research have been attained without using stem cells of an embryonic nature, a fact that Wisconsin Right to Life says proves the opposition is over-dramatizing the situation.
“Why they can’t get it through their thick heads, we don’t understand,” Armacost said referring to opponents of the amendment.
In response, Wisconsin Alumni Foundation spokesperson Andrew Cohn described Wisconsin Right to Life’s claims as nothing more than myths, maintaining “Any legitimate scientist would say that both [adult and embryonic] stem cells are necessary to medical development.”
Additionally, a number of state legislators and business leaders are worried about the economic implications of the passage of such an amendment.
“Right now [Wisconsin] has a leg-up on this ground-breaking, life-saving research that can create thousands of jobs and millions of dollars for the economy,” said State Rep. and Assistant Minority Leader Jon Richards, D-Milwaukee.
“To stop the use of [embryonic] stem cells in the private sector puts us at a huge disadvantage to states like California and Massachusetts that have recognized the importance of this kind of research,” Richards added. “[Jobs in stem cell research] are the kind of jobs that attract the best and the brightest, and these are the kind of jobs that we should have in Wisconsin.”
As different interest groups continue to disagree, UW professor of law and bioethics Alta Charo said the impact upon the university is only indirect, as the amendment is aimed at companies, not schools.
Though Charo argues “[the amendment] is a tremendous statement that Wisconsin does not want to be involved in the forefront of medical research,” she also urges people to keep in mind that the amendment is “never going to get passed by the governor” because he is a supporter of embryonic stem cell research.
It’s not something to get tangled up over, Charo said.
