Supporters of Proposition 71 today announced the measure has been endorsed by California Church IMPACT, the legislative advocacy sister organization of the California Council of Churches. Proposition 71, the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative, which will appear on the November 2004 ballot, would provide funds needed for the development of lifesaving therapies and cures for diseases that could save the lives of millions of California children and adults and reduce health care costs.
"We represent 1.5 million members of the mainstream and progressive Protestant and Orthodox communities of faith," said the Rev. Dr. Rick Schlosser, Executive Director of California Church IMPACT. "We are led by strong moral principles in support of health care and thus full access to medical developments. We have followed the hope and promise of stem cell research and we believe Proposition 71 is consistent with our moral principles. We believe California must allow scientists to pursue avenues of research and doctors to offer all people access to the highest standards of treatment that may improve their general well being and restore them to full participation in our society."
The legislative advocacy sister organization of the California Council of Churches joins a growing coalition of grassroots supporters including other religious leaders, Nobel Prize-winning scientists and medical experts, families involved in patient advocacy and efforts to cure diseases, and organizations like the California Medical Association, American Nurses Association of California, American Diabetes Association, Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Sickle Cell Disease Foundation of California, ALS Therapy Development Foundation, Parkinson's Action Network, and the National Coalition for Cancer Research.