Mike Fox on Anderson Cooper

[mamafigure]

MJF will be on CNN's Anderson Cooper tonight.
Mama

[vlhperry]

Dear Mama,

Thank you for the information. Mr. Fox had some very insightful comments to make. I definitly emphathized with his dyskensia's worsening the more important the point he wanted to get across. I understood his concern that the dyskenesia would detract the watcher from understanding the content of his message.

Unfortunatly, he did not convince me that the correct solution to use embryos' that he stated were just being thrown away was to take the lifeform, murder it after removing the tissue that would have made it a viable person and insert it into a living being. Life in any form is precious and should be treated with dignity. The tissue should be disposed of in a respectful manner, not tossed or reused. Destroying life to save a life is a selfish and dangerous precident.

I will not vote on only one issue, but on all issues the candidate represents, and vote for the candidate who supports the issues as I. I am still confused about the war in Iraq. Are we making a difference? Are we involved in another Viet Nam? I Believe in supporting our leaders in office, as the Bible tells me that it is God's will, but are we sending innocent young men to their deaths for a pipe dream? It is a religious was that has been going on for thousand of centries. The people must want freedom. To assume they want it because we do is illogical. If they are accustomed to being sheep and do not value their lives, then no taste of freedom will convince them to be other than what they are. They may value the individual life, and believe their is more honor in dying for the Muslim beliefs.

This must be the toughest election that Americans must exercise their responsibility to vote.

Sincerely,
Vicky

[olsen]

hi vicky, i know i will never disuade you from your position, and i respect your right to your position on this. Just one clarification--what in your opinion is the "respectful way to dispose of these tissues"? should they be buried? right now, if the patient who "owns" the fertilized embryos does not want to pay for continued storage of the "tissue" it is washed down the sink.
madelyn

[olsen]

and in response to this whole debate, I hope Michael J. Fox does not mind me quoting him--from an interview he gave as reported in the Baltimore Sun: he articulates my feelings and opinions quite well :

http://tinyurl.com/yyujuv



'As far as the other goes -- the campaign itself calling my ad in extremely poor taste -- that leads you to conclusions about attitudes toward sick people and their symptomatology and their right to be involved in the process and their franchise to help shape government policy and the future of health and science in the country,' he said. 'That's strange to me. And certainly to millions of Americans.'

[vlhperry]

hi vicky, i know i will never disuade you from your position, and i respect your right to your position on this.

End of story.

[Chicory]

I agree with Vicky- destroying life to save life is a selfish and dangerous precedent.

Near the end of the program, Anderson Cooper had another person on. I don't remember his name, but he spoke for the pro-life view. He said there aren't enough embryos being thrown away. Most couples keep extra embryos frozen to be used later. He said there is more promise being found in research on adult stem cells.

There is a danger that poor women will want to have abortions if money is offered for their embryo.

I don't agree with invitro fertilization in the first place. I believe infertile couples should adopt. There is another problem with fertility treatments- it leads to multiple births more and more often. These babies are frequently born prematurely with low birth weight and other medical problems.

Chicory

[vlhperry]

Dear Madelene,

Since you decided to push your position down my throat, I will respond in kind. I suspect you are a generally kind person and sincerely do want to respect my opinion, but you didn't and you have raised my ire or feelings of being persecuted. To tell the truth I cannot tell the difference anymore.

How about if when a couple signs up to have the doctor make some embryo's to freeze in case they want a child, let's have a built in charge for the disposal of the extra embryo's the doctor always recommends be made in case the first one chosen doesn't "take". The charge will be used to cremate the remains of the embryo. An obituary will be placed in the local paper. "Mr and Mrs. so and so are greived to announce the loss of their baby because of their choice to have the baby cremated as they did not want it." Make sure the parent's names are displayed prominately as well as the fertility clinic and the doctor who performed the embryonic procedure.

Let's take the lack of value of human life even further. Hundreds of people are waiting for someone to die of an accidental death so they can receive a new ********** (fill in the blank). Let's make a law forcing all person's who die an accidental death or and kind of death to give their organs to those who need them (after all they are dead.) Just because the family or religion of the deceased forbids the use of the organs should not overide the factor that someone living needs the organs.

Let's go a step further. Let us strike from the laws the persons who try to escape the draft by claiming the killing is against their religion. After all religion is only a philosophy and human life must rate higher than that.

As to your quote of Michael J. Fox, "'As far as the other goes -- the campaign itself calling my ad in extremely poor taste -- that leads you to conclusions about attitudes toward sick people and their symptomatology and their right to be involved in the process and their franchise to help shape government policy and the future of health and science in the country,' he said. 'That's strange to me. And certainly to millions of Americans."

Do you really believe this and have Parkinson's Disease? Or are you in denial of the symptoms? Example, last night my husband was on the phone talking to a company who gives rides to the disabled. Most of the employees volunteer their time to help the persons with disabilities. I could only hear one side of the conversation. My husband was trying to work out with the gracious volunteer what needs I may need, ie. a wheelchair lift, do I use a walker, do I use a cane. My Parkinson's mode took over me and I became paranoid. I took the phone from my husband and gave the poor volunteer the riot act about asking so many personal questions, that I had been approved already be metromobility, dada,dada,dada. The poor woman was in tears. I thought, at the moment all of this was going on my rights were being violated. She said she had to ask the questions she asked so they could serve me better. Somehow I managed to regain my control and apologized several times. By this time the poor woman was in tears, I handed the phone back to my husband who didn't know what to say to the poor woman and he tried to explain and make the woman feel better. When he hung up he turned on me and began yelling at me and asking me why I had done what I had done. I had no answer and felt like a real *****. I couldn't explain why I had done what I had done, and hated myself, because it was not the person I normally am. But I hurt a perfectly innocent person because of my incorrect assumption and the certainty that I thought I was right. I cannot trust my thoughts. No one with a pschological illness can. The right to direct medical research for Parkinson's cannot be made by the Parkinson's patient if they will humble themselves and admit they cannot trust what their brain tells them. Mr. Fox may find this strange to understand, I personnaly have made enough mistakes due to the effects of my illness to understand it totally. I would rather trust those who have had the medical training and have studied the various types of persons with this disease to determine the direction and research of this illness than my incapacitated brain. I find it strange that people, with as Michael Fox said his youngest child said, "a broken brain" think they are more capable than those who have spent years studying the disease.

Sincerely,
Vicky

[Paula]

Hi,

Thelma posted about this thread which is why I am seeing it and I know this research is such a personal thing. That's just one more reason why I fought so hard for GDNF - stem cells are far away and so deeply controversial.

I don't think that people think in black and white on this issue. There are shades of gray and they are disturbing. For example, someone in my family believes that what they do in fertility clinics is not the issue. The issue is that regardless of how many embryos they throw away; it's still wrong to take it a step further and tamper with life and use it in the manner that escr does.

I would rather not resort to stem cells personally. Instead, I have made the decision [years ago] to get the facts out about them for people to decide for themselves. So it's with facts that I'm arguing a few points made here.

The man that was on Anderson Cooper talking about all of the adult stem cell therapy, David Prentice, is just not credible. His list has been analyzed and debunked by scientists - people who do know what they are talking about. He lists GDNF therapy as successful adult stem cell therapy. This simply is not true....GDNF is synthetic. It is not made with human cells at all. Not the pump infused that we have been fighting for and to which he is referring in his references.

His references are amazingly erroneous and weak, sometimes flat out false. When I say that, I am not trying to show disrepect for your opinion or belief. I'm just being honest about the facts.

Vicky I know what you mean about not trusting your thoughts. But Mike Fox isn't just sharing his thoughts without doing his homework as Rush Limbaugh obviously did. He heads up the most successful private research foundation in the country. And there are plenty of PD patients who can trust their thoughts most of the time at least. It's really a matter of doing your homework first so to speak and being honest.

There will never be consensus on this subject. As one TV commentator said, "it's a matter of beliefs."

sincerely,
Paula

[olsen]

Paula, thanks for diffusing this debate. and I am supportive of your idea to focus on GDNF. I too believe the use of growth factors will be one of the primary answers for PD. madelyn

[vlhperry]

Dear Madelyn and Paula,

There is no negotiating to get into heaven. Either accept Jesus' gift of grace and acknowledge that you are unable to earn your way into heaven. Then imitate his example and love your lord with all your might and your neighbor as yourself.

If you can show me an example in the Bible where Jesus killed anyone to save himself, I will denouce my "black and white" view of what is right and what is wrong.

Vicky

[vlhperry]

After further research of the First Amendment to the US Constituation I have a better understanding of belief in Religion and action in Religion. The solution the supreme court judges came to, that civil action has authority over religious action is true only if the civil authority does not command me to do something against God's law. Other's may support embryonic research but I cannot because I believe it is against God's law. If support for this research is federally funded then I will be forced to go to prison for my beliefs.

If the politicians resolved the problem of raising contributions for their parties by placing a question on the federal tax form asking if the taxpayer would contribute $1.00 of his tax refund to political campaigning, or to the Audubon society, couldn't a similiar request be made on the same form asking for those who would like to make a voluntary contribution to a fund set aside for stem cell research by the government making it voluntary instead of mandatory? Couldn't this be a viable solution?

I am sorry so many find my opinions to be black and white but that is the system I live by. The Holy Spirit pointed out Jesus to me and gave me faith. I cannot turn back. The Faith is as much a part of me as the Parkinson's.
As I said, I know I can't negotiate my way into heaven. If others beleive otherwise, I will accept that. I am not trying in any way to be an evangelist.
Please believe me when I tell you I can accept who or what you are and will not judge you. I must judge myself guilty, according to God's word, and my only hope of redemption is to trust in Jesus' grace. I cannot earn my way in to heaven by trying to convert people to my belief. I only must trust that Christ died on the cross for me and show my love for him be accepting and trying to live my life according to what God's word in my Bible teaches me, to respect all forms of life.

Sincerely,
Vicky