Members of the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee Thursday heard testimony on LB512, which would restrict or prohibit the use of human fetal tissue.
Eleven individuals testified against LB512, including UNMC’s David Crouse, Ph.D., professor of genetics, cell biology and anatomy and interim vice chancellor for academic affairs. LB512, he said, would end critical and promising research, as well as have a chilling effect on the recruitment of top scientists and clinicians. Only four people spoke in favor of the bill.
If LB512 had been law in the 1950s during the polio outbreaks, Dr. Crouse, Nebraskans would not have had access to the polio vaccine, which was developed using tissue from an elective abortion. “If new vaccines or other treatments are developed in the future in association with the use of human fetal tissue obtained after the date of this bill, should it pass, they will not be available in Nebraska using any public resources,” he said.
Stiel: “Use is moral”
Rabbi Debbie Stiel of Omaha’s Temple Israel is one of the 70 percent of Nebraskans who believe fetal tissue research will lead to the alleviation of human pain and suffering. “The use of fetal tissue is moral when women have made informed decisions to donate this tissue,” she said. “Their decision should be respected and upheld. It is a moral act to decide to donate fetal tissue for research rather than allowing it to be discarded.”
Hope for Type I diabetics
Omaha attorney Rik Bonness, who also opposes a ban on fetal tissue research, told lawmakers about his teen-age sons who have Type I diabetes.
“Alex understands that no matter how often he tests his blood sugars, and injects insulin, Type 1 diabetes cannot be controlled,” Bonness said. “Our boys know they are dependent on insulin to survive, and that insulin does not prevent long-term complications like blindness, kidney failure and amputation. Forcing children to live in fear and pain — before an early death — is at the heart of the decision you face.”
Bonness said knowledge gained through fetal cell research could provide critical information ensuring success against Type 1 diabetes and many other diseases. “In particular, fetal tissue is a source of embryonic germ cells — (similar to embryonic stem cells) — which researchers believe could provide an important supply of insulin-producing cells to treat or even cure patients with juvenile diabetes,” he said.
“It is imperative that research with the highest professional standards — using fetal cells under strict oversight and important ethical safeguards — proceed immediately,” Bonness said. “The lives of my two sons, Eric and Alex — and millions of others with chronic diseases — depend on it.”
Yeaworth: “Research is our hope”
Rosalee Yeaworth, whose husband was diagnosed years ago with front-temporal dementia, an Alzheimer’s related dementia, also opposes LB 512. “Research is our hope, not for curing my husband at this point, but for beating this threat to the next generations – not only my children and grandchildren, but possibly yours.
“For almost 24 years, I have paid taxes to support the University of Nebraska and its Medical Center. It is my university too, and I want it to pioneer in the research and treatment so critical to so many families living with what are now incurable diseases.”
Advancing the research
The use of fetal tissue, although a small portion of UNMC’s neuroscience research program, is important, Dr. Crouse said. Interactions between three basic cell types in the brain (neurons, microglia and astrocytes) are critical to normal nervous system function, he said, and studying how they interact in experimental models is important to make progress in the research on these disorders.
Two of the three interacting cell types, the microglia and astrocytes, may be obtained by autopsy within 1 to 2 hours after death. These tissue samples, he said, have not been found to be a source of neurons, only microglia and astrocytes, “but their use in our research programs has allowed us to significantly reduce our need for fetal tissue.”
Dr. Crouse said other potential sources of all three cell types, such as from tissues obtained following miscarriages, tubal pregnancies, stillbirths, neonatal death or even the approved embryonic stem cell lines or adult stem cells have not been shown by any laboratory in the world to provide the functional neurons that are necessary for these important studies. “At the present time, only fetal tissue provides functional neurons and if fetal tissue cannot be used, the research cannot be completed,” he said.
Other bills
The judiciary committee also heard testimony Thursday on LB566, which would create the offense of destructive research on a human embryo; and LB602, which would adopt the human cloning prohibition act.
What’s next
The committee will proceed to take action on the bills. Committee members can kill the bills, move them to the legislative floor for further debate, or hold the bills in the committee.