With a clear mandate, the voters of California yesterday overwhelmingly approved Proposition 71, the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative.
In passing Proposition 71, voters agreed to fund stem cell research at California hospitals, medical schools and universities, to develop lifesaving therapies and cures for diseases that could save the lives of millions of California children and adults, reduce state health care costs and provide a boost to regional economies and the state at large. Scientists believe that stem cell research holds the promise to treat a multitude of diseases that include cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, ALS, arthritis and spinal cord injuries. These diseases affect 128 million Americans, including a child or adult in nearly half of all California families.
"This is an historic victory for the people of California and for the millions of families suffering from disease or injury," said Robert Klein, co-chair of Yes on 71. "There is no doubt in my mind that the mission Californians accepted today is a critical first step in changing the face of human suffering forever."
A bi-partisan coalition -- one of the largest coalitions of patient advocacy and medical groups every assembled for a statewide ballot measure -- backed the initiative including 46 Nobel Prize-winning scientists, more than 175 state and local elected officials, faith-based organizations, families involved in patient advocacy and efforts to cure diseases, and organizations like the Alzheimer's Association California Council, California Medical Association, American Nurses Association of California, California Association for Nurse Practitioners, American Diabetes Association, Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Sickle Cell Disease Foundation of California, California Arthritis Foundation Council, ALS Therapy Development Foundation, Parkinson's Action Network, California Congress of Seniors, Gray Panthers and the National Coalition for Cancer Research.
"We are very grateful to the people of California and to all the thousands of volunteers who worked so hard in support of Proposition 71. We can now let our scientists do the research that needs to be done in their quest to cure and mitigate diseases that affect millions of people in California and throughout the world," said Jerry and Janet Zucker, co-chairs of Yes on 71.