Back in the 1970s when the Equal Rights Amendment was being ratified by various state legislatures, proponents pulled a trick. Although the amendment was supposed to be ratified in seven years, proponents extended the deadline in order to extend the time for other states to ratify the ERA. It didn't work back then, and I doubt it will work now for comments on stem cell research.
The National Institute of Health provided a comment period concerning taxpayer funding on stem cells harvested from human embryos. The comment period was supposed to end January 31. But then the deadline was extended to February 14 and then extended again to February 22. Many believe that the deadline for public comment was extended simply because too many pro-life comments were being submitted. Extending the deadline supposedly would provide for more pro-abortion comments to be submitted.
Well, extending the deadline for ERA didn't work, and I doubt it will work for stem cell research comments. This is especially true if you take the time to send your comments to the NIH before the February 22 deadline.
Stem cell research raises legitimate pro-life concerns. Human embryos are killed in the process of extracting their stem cells. These are not disposable research tools; these are developing human babies.
Stem cells can be obtained from adults. They can also be obtained from umbilical cord blood and placentas. So we don't have to kill human embryos to proceed with stem cell research.
If you want to express your opinion about stem cell research, I suggest you contact the National Institute of Health. Their fax number is 301-402-0280. The e-mail address is stemcell@mail.nih.gov. They need to hear from you by next Monday.
I'm Kerby Anderson of Probe Ministries, and that's my opinion.