Missouri Stem Cell Initiative and Catholic Opposition

In Missouri, the Coalition for Lifesaving Cures headed by former U.S. Senator John Danfoth is promoting the Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative. The group is circulating a petition to get an amendment to the state constitution on the ballot that would protect stem cell research in the state. Yesterday's St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that on Sunday at all Catholic churches around St. Louis, parishioners will hear a homily telling them not to sign the petition. The bishops of the four diocese in the Catholic province of St. Louis have directed their parish priests to convey the church's position on embryonic stem cell research and its opposition to the petition initiative from their pulpits this week.