A new ad featuring actor Michael J. Fox will soon be hitting televisions across the state. The ad, paid for by U.S. Senate candidate Claire McCaskill, again links the upcoming Stem Cell initiative to the heated campaign for U.S. Senate.
“Unfortunately Sen. Jim Talent opposes expanding Stem Cell research,” says Fox, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease. “Sen. Talent even wanted to criminalize the science that gives us a chance for hope.”
In February, Talent withdrew his support for a bill he co-sponsored to ban all forms of human cloning (including embryonic therapeutic cloning techniques that are seen as crucial to stem cell research), angering many of his pro-life supporters.
Talent has said he personally opposes the current embryonic stem cell ballot initiative, instead favoring research involving adult stem cells.
UPDATE:This video from a Chicago TV station and this story in USA Today outlines some of the controversy stemming (no pun intended) from Michael J. Fox’s ad and comments made in response by conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh.
