Controversial Stem Cell Issue in Tallahassee

The debate is moving now to Tallahassee as a first-term lawmaker from Broward County announced plans last week to file legislation next year that would promote and pay for embryonic stem-cell research.

The move comes just two weeks after a Palm Beach County group launched a campaign to put a constitutional amendment on next year's ballot to force Florida to do the same, plus encourage the even more contentious process of therapeutic cloning.

"What if we said we didn't want to do research on polio? Is it better for everyone to get polio? Of course not," said Rep. Franklin Sands, the Weston Democrat whose legislation would allow researchers to use only embryonic stem cells produced by in-vitro fertilization that aren't implanted and would otherwise be discarded.

Amendment backers will have to collect more than 611,000 signatures in less than six months, an exhaustive and expensive process. The legislation, meanwhile, faces hurdles of its own - such as Gov. Jeb Bush.

Bush opposes embryonic stem-cell research because, he said, it encourages people to create human embryos solely to destroy them.

"It's a contradiction, I think, morally for us to pursue this option when there are other alternatives," Bush said.


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