Blumenthal Takes A Stand

Nobody present could have any any doubt: Dick Blumenthal supports stem cell research.

Blumenthal made that clear Thursday afternoon to two dozen Yale scientists, research advocates, diabetes activists, and seniors hauled in to fill out a room at the Yale Stem Cell Center on the first floor of the Amistad Building.

Standing upstairs from the lab where Yale graduate student Annie Le was murdered last September, Blumenthal vowed to fight to reverse a judge’s Monday decision that puts a temporary halt to $54 million in federally funded research on embryonic stem cells. (Read about that decision here.)

Blumenthal promised, as Connecticut attorney general, to file an amicus brief in support of an appeal planned by the Obama administration Department of Justice, which seeks to overturn Monday’s ruling by D.C. Chief Federal District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth.

And he promised that if elected Connecticut’s next U.S. senator, he would vote to overturn the ​“Dickey-Wicker amendment,” a Congressional appropriations rider which prevents federal money from supporting research that involves destroying human embryos. The judge’s Monday decision was based on that amendment. (Until now the federal government had relied on an interpretation of the amendment that permitted federally funded research using stem cell colonies, or ​“lines,” that were created with other sources of money.)

“I disagree with the judge’s decision,” Blumenthal told the group, which appreciated the sentiment.

He said the decision not only was based on faulty legal reasoning, but would ​“cripple and paralyze” research that can save lives by finding cures for diseases like diabetes and Parkinson’s, and that can create jobs in a recession.

He said the Dickey-Wicker Amendment ​“needlessly … injected politics into science.”

No one could leave the room with the slightest confusion about Blumenthal’s position on stem cells.

Blumenthal has come under criticism for not always taking such clear positions in this campaign for retiring U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd’s seat. For instance, when his Republican opponent Linda McMahon came out against the proposal to build an Islamic cultural center near the site of the 9/11 attacks in Manhattan, Democrat Blumenthal’s campaign released this statement about his position:

“This issue is highly sensitive and deeply personal for many people in Connecticut, New York and around the country. While Dick believes this issue should be decided at the local level, he hopes that local leaders will make the decision after reviewing all factors, and that they will give serious consideration to the wishes of those who were directly affected by the 9 – 11 tragedy.”

Not everyone was sure after reading that statement is Blumenthal was, say, in favor of the center being built. Or opposed to it.

Unlike the Manhattan Islamic center, stem cell research is not a controversial issue in Connecticut. The state created a $100 million stem cell research program with strong support from Democrats and Republicans alike.

It does divide Democrats and some Republicans elsewhere in the country; some anti-abortion forces consider it a destruction of human life. But others don’t. Support for medical research with embryonic stem cells reaches as high as 70 percent in some national polls.

Even Linda McMahon agrees with Blumenthal on this issue.

“She supports stem cell research,” her spokesman, Ed Patru, said Thursday afternoon. ​“She supports federal funding. She believes it is research that provides hope for millions of Americans who have MS, ALS, Parkinson’s heart disease.”

Whether Connecticut’s next senator helps overturn Dickey-Wicker will have real consequences for researcher Laurel Grabel (pictured), who participated in Blumenthal’s event Thursday.

Grabel is immersed in state-funded stem cell research, which is unaffected by the judge’s ruling.

But she has been working on submitting an application this November for a $500,000 innovating grant from the National Institutes of Health to conduct research on early differentiation of embryonic stem cells. If the judge’s injunction isn’t overturned, she’s out of luck.

“She spoke of how embryonic stem cells either get used in research like hers, seeking cures to disease; or spend years in reserve at infertility clinics.

“An embryo can lead a better existence [helping to] save lives,” Grabel argued, than ​“sitting indefinitely in a freezer.”

Among the supporters filling out the room were former New Haven city purchasing department employee Joe Hull (at right in photo) and fellow retirees from the Bella Vista housing complex. ​“They called me and said he was giving a talk on stem cell,” Hull said, referring to the Blumenthal campaign. ​“I’ve always been pro-stem cell.”