By Maria Hickey, KWMU
St. Louis, MO. – A group opposed to certain stem cell research and an effort to protect it in Missouri has kicked off its campaign.
Missourians Against Human Cloning held press conferences around the state Monday.
They oppose the efforts of the Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures to create constitutional amendment that protects stem cell research. That group has raised more than four million dollars in political contributions and already has aired TV ads.
Bev Ehlen is with Missourians Against Human Cloning. She says her group will have to depend on lots of small contributions.
Our goal is to raise two or three million dollars. We will need to have the media, the TV and radio ads close to the election, Ehlen said.
The procedure at the heart of the debate is called somatic cell nuclear transfer.
Ehlen and her group say that's human cloning, while supporters say the constitutional amendment would prevent such cells from being implanted in a woman's uterus.
A suit over the petition's language is pending in the state's court of appeals.