In what the New York Times is calling “a stunning defeat,” voters in New Jersey rejected a ballot measure that would have allowed the state to borrow $450 million over 10 years to fund stem cell research. The Star-Ledger reports that the defeat doesn’t seem so much about stem cells as it is about voter frustration over the state’s fiscal condition. The measure had been opposed by conservatives, anti-abortion groups and the Roman Catholic Church. Said the head of New Jersey Right to Life to the AP, “This was an ill-conceived plan from the beginning. In the end, New Jersey citizens saw through this loan-to-clone scheme and soundly rejected it.”
Related posts
Insulin Price Controls, Who Falls Through the Gaps?
In the United States, 6 million people take insulin to control their type 2 diabetes. In recent years, the high price of insulin has been widely covered in the media. Disturbing stories of insulin rationing and patient deaths have been widely reported. A Yale study from 2018 found that 1 in 4 patients with diabetes […]
When Worlds Collide: The Problem of Health Inequities and Anti-Immigrant Politics
This editorial appears in the November 2024 issue of the American Journal of Bioethics Seeing language barriers as a significant threat to the health of patients calls for a response from health-care institutions and providers at all levels. Failing to respond allows an arbitrary social circumstance to deny full opportunity for a healthy life to particular persons. […]
COVID-19 and Societal Stupidity
Unlike its SARS-CoV-1 predecessor a decade prior, SARS-CoV-2—frequently called COVID-19 to lessen alarm—has been an on-going, global crisis starting soon after its emergence in December 2019. The tenth wave of this Level 3 biohazard is starting and the injustices continue. Official global deaths reported by governments total 7 million. Data scientists, demographers, and economists closely […]
The ‘Sarco Suicide Pod’ and Beyond: AI in the Future of End-of-Life Decisions?
Recent headlines have reignited the debate on assisted dying in light of technological advancements. Last month, the controversial ‘Sarco suicide pod’ made news in Switzerland after being used for the first time by a 64-year-old American woman. Designed to allow users a self-administered and controlled process, Sarco operates without direct medical assistance, relying instead on […]