Winners

Proposition 71 Opponents:Our hats are off to a rag tag team of feminists, environmentalists,progressives, pro-choice and pro-life voices who have stopped Prop. 71in its tracks. California biotech has yet to see any of the 3 billiondollars it was promised. A truly poignant and modern David and Goliath story.

United Nations: The U.N. General Assembly in March adopted a declarationthat calls on governments to ban all forms of human cloning that are’incompatible with human dignity and the protection of human life.’

US Congress and Senate: In December Bush passed into law The Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005which paves the way for the creation of a national data bank forumbilical cord blood and bone marrow. This will allow doctors toquickly find a match for patients who need transplants.

Michelle Farrar:Farrar, paralyzed from the chest down for 2 years, is the firstAmerican to receive umbilical cord stem cell treatment of this kind.She traveled to South Korea, ironically, for the procedure and onDecember 9 Michelle could move her feet.

Don Ho: 75 year old Hawaiian crooner, Ho, received adult stem cell treatmentfor his ailing heart earlier this December in Thailand. He returned toHawaii on the 20th and is making a ‘remarkable recovery.’

IBM: As concerns grow that genetic information could be used as a modern tool of discrimination, IBM pledgedthis year to not use genetic information in its hiring practices or indeciding eligibility for health insurance coverage for its 300,000employees. This is the first of its kind for such a major corporation.

Losers

Professor Hwang Woo-suk:Hwang’s promises of quick embryonic stem cell cures at the beginning ofthe year through cloning may have become one of the greatest scientificlies of this century. The scandal so far includes fabricated evidence, colleagues of Hwang’s own team donating their eggs for research, and recently bribes of $30,000 to members of the team to keep quiet.

Terri Schiavo: Schiavo was dehydrated to deathearlier this year by rule of law. She was a victim of a legal systemthat had become obsessed with legal process at the expense of justice.The trial in her case was not originally well handled and the courtshung that record around her neck like a millstone, refusing to trulyand thoroughly examine new facts that came to light.

Robert Klein:Klein, Chair of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicinesuccessfully duped California into passing the precedent setting Proposition 71. With 71 the state of California can fund 3 billion dollars towards embryonic stem cell research.

45 euthanasia victims of hurricane Katrina: Louisiana’s attorney generalis investigating allegationsthat euthanasia was used to end the lives of 45 ill and elderlypatients at Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans in the aftermath ofHurricane Katrina.

33 South Korean teenagers who donated their eggs to professor Hwang’s cloning project: Even as Hwang was publicly disgraced, thousands of women including an entire class of 33 teenage girls donated their eggs to the faltering project.

Jack Kevorkian:Kevorkian’s lawyer is upset–and issued a press releaseto let the rest of us know–that the Michigan Parole Board refused torecommend clemency or pardon, based on Kevorkian’s supposed illhealth.

What your support will help CBC do in 2006

CBCis about raising the red flag when human dignity is at stake, and it isabout grounding science in moral responsibility. Most importantly, itis about celebrating the beauty and complexity of human life in all ofits various stages. We can continue to do this by developing relevantresources, holding exceptional one-of-kind events, and much more.

Winners

Proposition 71 Opponents:Our hats are off to a rag tag team of feminists, environmentalists,progressives, pro-choice and pro-life voices who have stopped Prop. 71in its tracks. California biotech has yet to see any of the 3 billiondollars it was promised. A truly poignant and modern David and Goliath story.

United Nations: The U.N. General Assembly in March adopted a declarationthat calls on governments to ban all forms of human cloning that are’incompatible with human dignity and the protection of human life.’

US Congress and Senate: In December Bush passed into law The Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005which paves the way for the creation of a national data bank forumbilical cord blood and bone marrow. This will allow doctors toquickly find a match for patients who need transplants.

Michelle Farrar:Farrar, paralyzed from the chest down for 2 years, is the firstAmerican to receive umbilical cord stem cell treatment of this kind.She traveled to South Korea, ironically, for the procedure and onDecember 9 Michelle could move her feet.

Don Ho: 75 year old Hawaiian crooner, Ho, received adult stem cell treatmentfor his ailing heart earlier this December in Thailand. He returned toHawaii on the 20th and is making a ‘remarkable recovery.’

IBM: As concerns grow that genetic information could be used as a modern tool of discrimination, IBM pledgedthis year to not use genetic information in its hiring practices or i
ndeciding eligibility for health insurance coverage for its 300,000employees. This is the first of its kind for such a major corporation.

Losers

Professor Hwang Woo-suk:Hwang’s promises of quick embryonic stem cell cures at the beginning ofthe year through cloning may have become one of the greatest scientificlies of this century. The scandal so far includes fabricated evidence, colleagues of Hwang’s own team donating their eggs for research, and recently bribes of $30,000 to members of the team to keep quiet.

Terri Schiavo: Schiavo was dehydrated to deathearlier this year by rule of law. She was a victim of a legal systemthat had become obsessed with legal process at the expense of justice.The trial in her case was not originally well handled and the courtshung that record around her neck like a millstone, refusing to trulyand thoroughly examine new facts that came to light.

Robert Klein:Klein, Chair of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicinesuccessfully duped California into passing the precedent setting Proposition 71. With 71 the state of California can fund 3 billion dollars towards embryonic stem cell research.

45 euthanasia victims of hurricane Katrina: Louisiana’s attorney generalis investigating allegationsthat euthanasia was used to end the lives of 45 ill and elderlypatients at Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans in the aftermath ofHurricane Katrina.

33 South Korean teenagers who donated their eggs to professor Hwang’s cloning project: Even as Hwang was publicly disgraced, thousands of women including an entire class of 33 teenage girls donated their eggs to the faltering project.

Jack Kevorkian:Kevorkian’s lawyer is upset–and issued a press releaseto let the rest of us know–that the Michigan Parole Board refused torecommend clemency or pardon, based on Kevorkian’s supposed illhealth.

What your support will help CBC do in 2006

CBCis about raising the red flag when human dignity is at stake, and it isabout grounding science in moral responsibility. Most importantly, itis about celebrating the beauty and complexity of human life in all ofits various stages. We can continue to do this by developing relevantresources, holding exceptional one-of-kind events, and much more.

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