Could the presence of Native Americans in Michigan help those who support embryonic stem cell research do an end-run around Michigan's restrictive laws on the topic?
The possibility was raised at a presentation Tuesday night (November 27, 2007) by Michigan Citizens for Stem Cell Research and Cures held at Livingston County Democratic Headquarters. The Livingston Press and Argus provided a concise account of the event in editions for Wednesday (November 28, 2007).
Marcia Baum, executive secretary of the stem cell group, and former Congressman Joe Schwarz, a former Republican and now an independent, explained the science and politics surrounding embryonic stem cell research to a group of 33 people at the event.
Currently, federal funds cannot be used for embryonic stem cell research, but Schwarz expects the next president will sign legislation allowing that to occur. That would release about half of the National Institutes of Health's $27 billion budget for such research. California is not waiting for federal funds and has approved a $3 billion bond issue to provide research funds.
Because of a 1978 law, Michigan researchers would not be able to take advantage of the federal funds. Legislation to repeal that measure has not made it out of a House committee. In lieu of action by lawmakers, a ballot issue, with bipartisan support, is being considered for the fall of 2008.
But if groups such as Right to Life of Michigan and the Michigan Catholic Conference succeed in defeating the ballot issue, there might be an alternative.
A member of the audience Tuesday night brought up the possibility of doing embryonic stem cell research on Indian land in Michigan. Under well-established legal doctrine, Indian reservations are sovereign nations not subject to the laws of the state. An Indian community that is interested in economic development other than casinos could invite researchers to use their lands for a research lab where they could operate free of state laws, using federal funds once they become available.
"That has been brought to my attention and I think it's fascinating," Baum said.
So right-to-life fanatics have a choice -- they can oppose the ballot issue and let research move to Indian lands, where no laws will govern it unless the tribe adopts its own statute, or they can support a state law allowing embryonic stem cell research with appropriate safeguards.
Either way, the research will go forward.
1 comment:
this may have negative repercussions. the legislation surrounding native nations and the reservation land is regulated first by treaties which can only be made between two sovereign nations. sounds simple and great so far. however, there's been a lot of... shall we say, jerking around done by the u.s. federal government in the last, oh, 200 or so years. currently we are termed domestic dependent nations and the legislation regarding our federal reserve trust land is... complex. many issues arise that can invite the federal courts to swoop down upon us and give us a headache. don't think that the federal or state government has ever truly treated our nations with the respect they are supposed to give sovereign nations. any look at federal indian policy history proves they still don't. the research issue could be a mutually beneficial arrangement but it will certainly arouse the rabid right more solidly against us. and as engler has proven in the case of the casinos in detroit, with enough venom in the heart, some people will do ANYTHING to crap on us. For Instance, there has been talk of eliminating the treaty based tuition waiver in michigan in the wake of prop 2 having eliminated affirmative action practices. now, an intelligent and informed citizen will notice that treaty rights are supreme law of the land and affirmative action laws are not. therefore it should be illegal for the state to touch the waiver. however the waiver itself is not specifically codified as such in the treaty but the state has had to come up with a plan to honor that treaty somehow and voila. tuition waiver at most colleges and universities only in michigan for federally recognized members who are recognized by both state and school as MI residents. harder than it sounds trust me. basically the state has to do SOMETHING about education, but what exactly that is could be in jeopardy. back to the point: yes its possible, but federal laws encroach upon native sovereign land every day and there is a valid hesitation on the part of native nations to draw more public attention when the issue at hand doesn't directly correlate to our culture and sovereignty. casinos for instance have been great for SOME nations' revenues but not all and the ire it has raised from the public induces some nations to either flaunt it or bend over backward to soothe the battered egoes of the states they affect. concessions in these and other cases damage reputations and sways the opinions of judges. public scrutiny only catches what goes wrong in indian country and what one nation does can affect all of federal indian policy. the uninformed public perceives an injustice and label our sovereign rights as special rights or superfluous rights and that is simply not true. THEREFORE, does the need for the research translate into party or industry support of native sovereignty issues?
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