What is MiCAUSE
Michigan Citizens Against Unrestricted Science and Experimentation (MiCAUSE) was formed in response to a proposed amendment to the Michigan Constitution. The proposed constitutional amendment would allow unrestricted experimentation on live human embryos. MiCAUSE will work to educate people about the troubling questions raised by the proposal:
Does this constitutional amendment regulate stem cell research? NO!
The proposal is about unrestricted research on live human embryos. It would create loopholes that would ban any state law that might “prevent, discourage, or restrict research, or create disincentives to participate in the research.” In other words, if a state or local law regulates the safety or ethics of research, scientists can ignore that law.
The proposal’s language says that “no stem cells” may be taken from a human embryo older than 14 days; this language thus allows for research on and the killing of human embryos older than 14 days as long as researchers don’t remove stem cells.
Does this constitutional amendment really prohibit human cloning? NO!
The proposal has a “do-nothing” clause that neither changes or protects the current Michigan law banning cloning. Meanwhile, leaders of this proposal have already introduced bills in the Michigan legislature that would legalize human cloning by deceptively changing the current definition of human cloning.
Is this constitutional amendment just about “leftover” human embryos? NO!
Scientists in Britain have been allowed to create human-animal hybrids due to a lack of enough human eggs. Creation of human-animal hybrids is legal in Michigan, and the loopholes in this poorly written proposal could outlaw any attempt by the Michigan legislature to ban creation of human-animal hybrids for stem cell research.