Legally and nearly literally blind from diabetes, Paul J. Byrne could not see the faces crowded into the room at the Kessler Institute of Rehabilitation on Jan. 5. But he could hear the voices of parents and children around him, the hundreds of ailing people who had come to witness Gov. Jim McGreevey sign the Stem Cell Research bill into law.
Byrne, who was indicted in 2003 on charges raised in the on-going corruption investigation surrounding former County Executive Robert Janiszewski, never let his personal woes divert him from seeking to get the stem cell research bill passed. Byrne has worked tirelessly behind the scenes along with many others from Hudson County to drum up support for the bill. He had come to the signing knowing that his efforts could not roll back time, nor cure him of his own blindness.
“This bill is for the kids and the future,” he said, and he had come to the signing partly because he could not believe the bill had overcome so many hurdles.
“As I stood there in that room, I heard parents comforting their kids,” Byrne recalled during a telephone interview, “although I also heard older kids comforting their parents.”
A few feet away, Gov. McGreevey stood beside crippled actor Christopher Reeve to sign the bill that made New Jersey the second state in the nation to permit stem cell research, declaring, “Today we celebrate the possible,” and that “suffering and pain are not going to be tolerated forever.”
The crowd around Byrne had its share of suffering. People there were suffering from Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease and diabetes, and Byrne said he heard each voice carrying a note of hope.
“They were telling their kids or their parents that this might provide the answer to their illnesses,” Byrne said. “But this wasn’t for us. This was for the children and future children, the ones that research might help.”
McGreevy took particular note of the Hudson County legislators in the state Senate and the Assembly, whose united vote on this issue had allowed the controversial legislation to become law.
Hudson County came together for this bill
Assembly Speaker and West New York Mayor Albio Sires had guided the legislation to the floor, despite many anti-abortion groups who had come out in opposition. Faced with stiff opposition during the regular legislative session, Sires reintroduced the bill in the last session of this legislative body, vowing to get a vote on the matter before the year ended.
“We had to overcome a campaign of lies,” said Assemblyman Anthony Impreveduto of Secaucus.
Impreveduto was credited with raising Democratic support for the bill with an impassioned speech from the floor of the Assembly. He told other members to vote their conscience, but not to base their decisions on lies. He said if people honestly believed the use of stem cells for research was wrong, they should vote against it. But he also cautioned the body not to believe all the rhetoric that special interests groups were issuing against the legislations.
Some opponents of the bill claimed the legislation permitted human cloning, an act prohibited under federal law. The bill, in fact, also outlawed human cloning.
What the law does do, according to Jersey City Assemblywoman Joan Quigley, is allow researchers – private or public – to conduct experiments on stem cells derived from human embryos and to replicate these for continuing research. Under the law, people undergoing fertility treatments can donate unwanted embryos for scientific research. The law also requires doctors to offer the option to potential parents under fertility treatments.
The law also allows for something called “therapeutic cloning” where genetic material is moved from one cell to another. Anti-abortion groups claimed this was the first step towards human cloning. Impreveduto said the law specifically bans any move in that direction.
“We heard these groups telling us how this would lead to baby farms where we would cultivate body parts,” Impreveduto said. “These lies made me angry.”
Stem cells may be the key to a cure
Stem cells are important to research because they can be adapted for various uses. The human body has a variety of cells such as those in the heart and other organs, or those that make up nerves, skin and other tissue. Stem cells are at the earliest stage of development before they have progressed to a specific use.
Researchers believe manipulation of stem cells may lead to cures that have so far eluded modern medicine.
Anti abortion groups – often with a religious affiliation – view stem cell manipulation and the use of human embryos as the equivalent of abortion.
“These embryos would be thrown away,” said Hoboken Councilman Anthony Soares, who has suffered ailments related to dwarfism – ailments stem cell research might help cure in the future. Soares also offered active support for the legislation, and witnessed the governor’s signing of the bill into law.
Byrne called the Hudson County legislators “courageous” in their support for the bill. One legislator, Rafael Fraguela, was ejected from the local Republican party for supporting it.
“The biggest opponent of this bill was the Catholic Church,” Byrne said. “Every one of our legislators is a Catholic. Each one voted her or her conscience.”
Byrne said Quigley risked her job as a representative of a Catholic health organization.
The movement also bridged political differences in Hudson County, with people from both sides of the current Democratic divide coming together for greater cause.
“It was a very moving moment,” Soares said, recalling the kids, parents, accident victims and others he saw around him – in a place where his father had once worked. “It touched me because it made me think of all the good work my father did there.”
Soares said he saw two young men about 19 in the crowd.
“They must have suffered an accident,” Soares said. “They had hope in their eyes. At the end of the day, this law is about the kids. This might not help me, but it might helped them, and it will give a lot of people hope for the future.”