On March 12, over one thousand students and community members gathered at the Michigan Theater to watch the premiere showing of Life is for the Living, a documentary film addressing “Stem Cell Research: the people, the politics, the science, the hope.” The film, made by U of M junior Michael Rubyan with Deborah Orley, portrayed a wide variety of patient advocates who could benefit from potential cures (including Janet Reno, former US Attorney General), information from leading scientists, and thoughts from prominent political leaders.

Rubyan’s film took over two years to complete. He explained, “Life is for the Living began after I attended a meeting about stem cell research on campus…I became convinced that everyone should have the opportunity to hear about this issue from all of the different perspectives so that they can better understand the issue, so I set out to make a film that would do just that.” After the successful premiere, plans are underway to have showings around the state and nationally. For supporters of stem cell research, the film could not have been released at a more opportune time.

It’s been a few years since Representative Andy Meisner (D-Ferndale) first announced his bills to change Michigan’s restrictive embryonic stem cell research laws, and thus far, nothing has changed. The Michigan legislature has failed to vote on Meisner’s proposals, leaving Michigan’s laws as antiquated as those in some of the most conservative states in the nation. What many people may fail to realize, however, is that Michigan’s laws were not specifically designed to prevent the research that has been embraced and funded by many states. The laws which currently prohibit embryonic stem cell research in Michigan date back to 1978 and 1998. Somewhat ironically, the 1998 laws were passed just a few months before Dr. James Johnson reported his discovery of human embryonic stem cells in November.

The laws from the seventies specifically prohibit use of a live embryo for research that is not therapeutic to that specific embryo. Research that may harm or kill the embryo is thus illegal, but the question of left over fertilized embryos from in vitro fertilization (IVF) is unaddressed. In Michigan, an embryo from IVF can be indefinitely frozen or thrown away- destroyed- but cannot be used for research. The laws passed in 1998 that prohibit stem cell research were actually aimed at reproductive cloning. Legislation was passed in response to the ethical questions raised by the cloning of Dolly the sheep two years before. The laws ban human cloning, and a procedure known as somatic cell nuclear transfer. Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), however, is a procedure that would be necessary in embryonic stem cell research. It can be used to facilitate therapeutic cloning (growing multiple cells specific to a patient’s body) or the controversial reproductive cloning (growing cells to implant into a woman’s uterus to become a child). The wording of this law is vague in that it prohibits the birth of human clones as intended while simultaneously eliminating the possibility of creating patient-specific cells needed for stem cell research and treatment.

Leftover embryos and embryonic stem cell research were not the issues in question when the laws were passed in 1978 and 1998. The president of the University of Michigan’s chapter of the Student Society for Stem Cell Research, Landon Krantz, lamented, “The state laws right now are terrible. They are archaic, outdated, and the worst part is that when the laws were written, the procedures that they serve to forbid weren’t even known about. Right now the government tells people they cannot donate their embryos- I think the choice should be in the parents’ hands, and if they don’t want to donate, that’s fine. Just because politicians wouldn’t donate their embryos doesn’t give them the right to stop me from donating mine.”

Rather than continuing to wait for legislative action which may never come, supporters of stem cell research have begun the work towards a ballot initiative for the fall. Other states, such as California and Missouri, have successfully passed similar initiatives to lessen restrictions on such promising research. If enough signatures are collected in petitions in the next few months, Michigan voters can expect to see a proposal regarding stem cell research laws in November. Rubyan commented, “If this issue will be on the ballot in November, then I hope that Life is for the Living will help the citizens of Michigan to become better informed about stem cell research from all perspectives, the people, the politics, the science, and the hope.”

With great intellectual resources in the state of Michigan, including U of M, it is high time that the laws regarding embryonic stem cell researched are changed. After years of legislative inaction, it may be up to the public to decide. Hopefully, when the time comes to vote, Michigan will realize the importance of improving life for those who are already living.