Fly On, Superman

CNN.com - Christopher Reeve dies at 52 - Oct 11, 2004

A telling quote from the article, given the re-emergence of stem cell research as a campaign issue:

The actor went through months of therapy to train himself to breathe without the continuous aid of a respirator. He then became an advocate for the disabled, lobbying Congress, appearing at the Academy Awards and returning to acting and directing. His name was mentioned by Sen. John Kerry during Friday's presidential debate when the talk turned to stem cell research.

Reeve himself was vocal on the subject. In 2001, while President Bush considered a decision on stem cell research -- he eventually allowed federal funding of research using existing stem cell lines -- Reeve spoke to CNN's John King about the impact of delaying study.

"That would be a big mistake because you could spend the next five years doing research on the adult stem cells and find that they are not capable of doing what we know that embryonic cells can do now," he said. "And five years of unnecessary research to try to create something that we already have would cause -- well, a lot of people are going to die while we wait."

Now, if only we could get Kerry to point out that embryonic stem cells do not come from fully-formed fetuses...

Posted by rick at October 11, 2004 11:31 AM | More General Stuff