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April 11, 2016 01:51 PM UTC

Woods: "We are concerned about the abortions behind the tissue"

  • 14 Comments
  • by: Jason Salzman

(Laura Waters Woods: she doesn’t mince words – Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Sen. Laura Waters-Woods.
Sen. Laura Waters-Woods.

Last week, Colorado Senate Republicans inserted an amendment in the budget bill prohibiting the use of state funds to purchase fetal tissue for research—even though state funds are already barred from being spent for this purpose.

But the sponsors of the amendment, state Senators Tim Neville of Littleton and Laura Woods of Westminster, wanted to “clarify” things in the wake of discredited videos showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of fetal tissue.

The tissue, as university researchers in Colorado have pointed out, is used to help find cures for terrible diseases. It’s obtained under strict federal guidelines that include a consent form from the donor of the tissue authorizing its use in research. A processing charge is allowed but money making on such sales is illegal.

“This is an important issue,” said Woods on the Senate floor (here at 445:30) “We were horrified by the videos that we saw. And the callousness that was associated with those videos. And it deserves our attention…”

“We are not just concerned about Planned Parenthood. We are concerned about the abortions behind this tissue that is being used for research.”

Officials at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and Colorado State University rejected demands by Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) last year that all fetal-tissue research be halted. They noted that funds for such research come from NIH or private sources, not state dollars.

Richard Traystman, the University of Colorado School of Medicine’s Director of Research, said it was “not acceptable” to stop research using fetal tissue.

Traystman said at the time:  “[Fetal cells]  are very often used in research on diseases of the central nervous system, the brain, the spinal cord, a variety of diseases that involve brain abnormalities and diseases, like Parkinson’s disease, for example. They are also used in research on the heart and cardiac tissue and to create vaccines. I could go on.”

Traystman emphasized that researchers who use fetal tissue “must go through the Institutional Review Board process, get consent, and follow all the rules and regulations related to human consent forms.”

All this does not persuade Woods or Neville, whose fetal-tissue amendment is expected to be deleted from the budget bill by a conference committee, sources say.

“We do have moral opportunities,” said Neville. “And I look at this as an opportunity to do the right thing.”

Correction: A previous version of this post stated that the fetal-tissue amendment had been deleted from the budget bill by a conference committee. It has yet to be deleted.

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14 thoughts on “Woods: “We are concerned about the abortions behind the tissue””

  2. Neville, well, I guess his humiliating defeat (and that of Dudley Brown) didn't give cause for consideration.  Not even those nutcases in the Republican base voted for him.  I think we need a law like Arizona that you have to resign from any other elected office before you run for another.

  4. So, Woods and Neville were OK with people using the fetal tissue issue for its PR value – to draw attention to abortions. Is that their point?

    So, the idea that "baby parts" being sold was just to sensationalize the issue of abortion, and it shouldn't be taken at face value?

    Someone might want to let the crazies in on the joke Senators, otherwise people might get the wrong impression and think that you're wittingly egging these people on:

    "The man who acknowledges killing three people at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic idolized an abortion foe who killed a Florida doctor more than two decades earlier, court documents released Monday show.

    Robert Dear told police he attacked the clinic in Colorado Springs because he was upset with the reproductive health organization for performing abortions and "the selling of baby parts," according to the court documents. Dear also told investigators he put glue in the locks at an abortion clinic when he lived in South Carolina, a common protest technique among activists trying to shut down such facilities."
     

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/planned-parenthood-shooting-idolized-abortion-doc-killer

  5. These creepy assholes would probably be singing a different song if it was their vocal chords that were being paralyzed by Parkinson's.

    Woods going on about the fake video's is the evil heart of the GOP manufacturing a false reality to sell total bullshit so they can achieve power over other people's lives.  Her denigration of the integrity of the researchers at UC Health is what makes her such an evil bitch.  I've been involved in clinical trials at UC Health and my personal experience is that these are some of the most compassionate people you will ever meet working with dedication and an intensity of effort to alleviate the suffering of others.

    Woods on the other hand goes out of her way to prolong the suffering for imaginary reasons.  What horrible people to be in positions of leadership.  I'm glad she is up for reelection this year.  I'll definitely donate to her opponent.  What a fucking asshole.

    For the curious, use "Parkinson Disease and fetal tissue research" for your search term to see what's happening in the real world.

  6. The core dilemma of curing Parkinson's Disease is that by the time you develop symptoms (tremors, etc), 60% of your Dopamine producing neurons have already died.  Chemical treatment is centered around slowing the death of the other 40% or introducing synthetic Dopamine into the body. 

    Stem cell and fetal tissue research offer the possibility of regrowing Dopamine neurons to replace the ones that have already died.  Medical science as a field is on the brink of all kinds of new breakthroughs but simply bringing a new drug to market requires hundreds of millions if not a billion plus dollars.  This is why public funding is critical so that these breakthroughs are in the public domain and not held by a for-profit company that will charge exhorbitant amounts to recoup their costs and make an obscene profit. 

    We need to support candidates for political office who recognize the need and importance of medical science research.

      1. Then may all their loved ones . . .  Nooo!!!  You can't wish these kinds of suffering on anyone otherwise you would be just like them.

        It's pretty obvious that they lead from behind and the only vision they have is how to exploit the suffering of others for their political gain.  Did I mention that I think Woods and Neville are total assholes?

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