Dear Editor:
A few years ago, I noticed that I needed stronger eyeglasses to read and drive a car. After a few visits to the doctor, I learned with horror that I was going blind, a victim of what is called macular degeneration brought on by Type 2 diabetes. In a few months, my friends and loved ones became blurs, and then, just dark shapes in a blob of lights.
No longer could I look out my window and see Lady Liberty shining in the harbor. No longer could I see my five year-old niece or 13 year-old nephew growing up before me. On September 11, 2001, I heard the Twin Towers fall and the F-16s roar over Jersey City, but I couldn’t see what was going on. I now read the Hudson Reporter every week with the help of friends who narrate to me my favorite columnists and stories.
There has not been much hope for the millions of diabetics like myself who have had to fight vision loss or other byproducts of diabetes. I have been combing the Internet and medical journals in recent months and speaking with doctors about experimental drugs or clinical trials that may help me regain my sight, all to no avail. I have even received the personal assistance of Senator Jon Corzine, who pledged his office’s resources to aid diabetics all across our nation.
Last summer, GOP-candidate Bret Schundler was caught in an embarrassing flip-flop on the issue of stem-cell research when candidate James E. McGreevey courageously announced that he was in favor of making New Jersey the second state in the country to approve research into stem cells taken from frozen embryos that would not be used to produce children and that are already scheduled for disposal. Reading that story in the paper immediately filled me with hope, and I’m sure it did the same for others suffering from incurable ailments like Parkinson’s disease or Alzheimer’s. President Bush, ignoring the pleas from members of his own party and notables like Nancy Reagan, moved to deny federal funding for stem-cell research, proving that the Religious Right and Catholic Bishops two organizations that have flunked the credibility test in recent months hold far too much power in the White House. Our President’s stand is holding hostage the hopes of millions of us nationwide hoping for some compassionate conservatism from Washington.
In Trenton, Senators Dick Codey and Barbara Buono followed Governor McGreevey’s initiative and led the fight to have a bill passed in the Senate this month that would legalize embryonic stem-cell research. The bill is now in the hands of the Assembly, and I’m told that it stands a good chance of passing in 2003.
Governor McGreevey now has a chance to build a real, substantial legacy for him that would go beyond the silly parade of partisan gaffes that have kept him in the news for the wrong reasons. New Jersey’s GOP thankfully is not as hard-hearted as its Sunbelt cousins in Congress, and I believe that this legislation could be a bipartisan accomplishment both sides of the aisle could be proud of. Providing hope to residents like myself and the thousands of diabetes sufferers statewide is a worthy start for Governor McGreevey that would make him the Governor of hope, not “choppergate.”
I guess that for many of this bill’s opponents, waking up each day to near-darkness or watching the faces of your loved ones sadden as you slip into the depths of Alzheimer’s disease are the prices we have to pay for our illness, and that prayers and empty promises are all we need to sustain us. I have a feeling that Governor McGreevey, like candidate McGreevey, is thankfully not one of them. I’m counting on him to cast that “vote for hope” for myself and all residents running out of hope and out of time.
Paul J. Byrne